FACTS 

REBUTTING  ASSAULTS 

UPON  THE 

FIVE  POINTS 

HOUSE  OF  INDUSTRY, 

THROUGH  THE  CHARACTER  OF 

REV.  L.  M.  PEASE. 


Five  Points  House  of  Industry,  ) 
New  York,  Feb.,  1854.  j" 
For  the  information  of  numerous  inquirers  in  respect  to  gross  acccusa- 
tious  from  time  to  time  heaped  upon  the  Superintendent  of  this  Institution, 
desiring  to  know  what  answer  has  been  made  to  them,  and  requiring  too 
much  time  to  be  personally  and  separately  answered ;  the  voluntary  replies 
of  disinterested  and  competent  witnesses,  are  copied  from  the  public  papers 
and  compiled  in  this  form,  together  with  the  bitterest  and  most  compre- 
hensive of  the  assaults  yet  published,  for  convenient  and  full  comparison. 


TRUSTEES  OF  THE  HOUSE  OF  INDUSTRY. 

[Incorporated  March  3rd  1854. 


HENRY  Ft.  REMSEN,  18  Park  Place,  (Dutch  Ref.  Ch.) 
CHARLES  ELY,  104  Broadway,  (Episcopalian.) 
GEO.  M.  BIRD,  20  Broad-street,  do. 
EDW.  G.  BRADBURY,  423  Broadway,  (Baptist.) 
WM.  W.  CORNELL,  143  Centre-street,  (Methodist.) 
ARCHIBALD  RUSSELL,  45  Tenth-street,  (Episcopalian.) 
GEO.  G.  WATERS,  18  Park  Place,  (Congregationalist.) 
THOS.  EELLS,  23  Hicks-street,  Brooklyn,  do. 
CHAS.  B.  TATHAM,  247  Water-street,  N.  Y.,  (Unitarian.) 


ATTENTION  IS  PARTICULARLY  DIRECTED  TO 

The  Assault,  page  26, 

The  Answers  by  Mr.  Stephenson  and  Mr.  Eells,  -  "  3,  9, 
The  Further  Answer  in  Courier  and  Enquirer,  -       -       "  16, 

The  Testimony  of  the  Directors,  " 

■  Wild  Maggie,"  "39. 


LETTER  OF  JOHN  STEPHENSON,  ESQ. 


From  the  New  York  Courier  and  Enquirer,  Jan.  21,  1854. 

A  communication  of  a  very  gross  character,  assailing  the  re- 
putation of  the  Rev.  L.  M.  Pease,  appeared  in  a  corner  of 
the  Express  a  few  days  since,  but  passed  without  notice  from 
the  press  generally,  and,  so  far  as  we  had  observed,  from  the 
parties  immediately  concerned.  We  deemed  that  a  demonstra- 
tion of  the  nature  of  the  one  alluded  to,  must  be  considered  as 
out  of  the  pale  of  discussion,  and  to  be  treated  in  only  one  way, 
no  less  than  a  violent  assault  upon  the  person.  We  observe, 
however,  that  yesterday's  Express  contained  a  thorough  reply, 
from  personal  knowledge,  to  all  the  charges,  seriatim,  under 
the  signature  of  Mr.  Eells,  of  Brooklyn,  who  is  introduced 
by  the  Editor  as  a  person  of  known  respectability.  We  are 
well' acquainted  with  Mr.  Eells,  and  his  unimpeachable  charac- 
ter renders  his  passionless  and  searching  exposure  of  facts, 
overwhelmingly  severe  upon  the  unlucky  assailant. 

We  have  since  received  from  Mr.  John  Stephenson,  a  busi- 
ness man  well  known  to  this  community,  and  perhaps  one  of 
the  ablest  and  most  influential  laymen  of  the  Methodist  Church, 
a  very  temperate  and  candid  statement  of  the  general  history 
of  Mr.  Pease's  relations  to  the  Methodist  Missionary  operations 
at  the  Five  Points,  which  will  doubtless  prove  highly  instruct- 
ive to  those  who  are  desirous  of  understanding  the  truth  of  these 
questions.  So  far,  with  the  exception  of  timid  insinuations,  and 
the  hearsay  babble  of  irresponsible  and  palpably  malignant  per- 
sons, the  public  has  not  been  pained  with  the  slightest  evidence 
against  the  character  of  the  devoted  philanthropist  who  has  won 
so  largely  of  its  confidence ;  and  the  statements  of  Mr.  Eells 
and  Mr.  Stephenson,  both  for  intrinsic  probability,  temper,  and 
weight  of  character,  would  only  be  insulted  by  a  comparison 


4 


FACTS  RELATING  TO  TUB 


with  what  has  been  said  on  the  other  part.  The  following  is 
Mr.  Stephenson's  communication  : 

To  the  Editors  of  the  Courier  and  Enquirer : 

Much  misapprehension  exists  of  the  Mission  at  the  Five 
Points  belonging  to  the  "  New  York  Ladies'  Home  Missionary 
Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church"  and  the  Industrial 
Home  under  the  superintendence  of  the  Rev.  L.  M.  Pease. 

A  deal  has  been  said  and  written  tending  to  mislead.  An 
article  in  the  Evening  Post  of  15th  November  last,  by  the 
publishing  Committee  of  the  Ladies'  Home  Missionary  Society, 
needed  correction.  The  Evening  Express  of  13th  instant  gives 
an  article  by  "  James  Redpath,"  which  seems  to  demand  the 
following  narrative  : 

"  The  New  York  Ladies'  Home  Missionary  Society  of  the 
Methodist  Episcopal  Church"  was  formed  about  the  year  1844 
as  a  religious  organization,  and  with  the  object  and  purposes  of 
a  "  Missionary  Society,"  according  to  the  common  acceptation 
of  that  term  among  Christian  Churches.  The  following  extracts 
from  the  constitution  explain  its  objects : 

Art.  1st.  The  Association  shall  be  called  the  "New  York 
Ladies'  Home  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church." 

Art.  2d.  The  object  of  this  Society  is  to  raise  funds  to  sup- 
port one  or  more  Missionaries  for  the  city,  who  shall  be  ap- 
pointed in  accordance  with  the  discipline  of  the  Methodist 
Episcopal  Church,  and  for  such  other  purposes  as  shall  best 
subserve  the  Great  Missionary  Work  in  the  city  of  New  York. 

This  Society  has  been  active,  and  accomplished  much  good. 
Many  flourishing  churches  are  indebted  to  it  for  their  early 
support,  and  their  efforts  among  the  German  population  have 
been  abundant  and  fruitful.  The  last  Annual  Report  shows 
some  five  missions  receiving  support  from  this  Society  during 
the  past  year.  Among  these  is  the  Mission  at  the  "  Five 
Points."  This  Mission  was  commenced  between  three  and 
four  years  since,  and  the  Rev.  L.  M.  Pease,  one  of  the  minis- 
ters of  the  New  York  Conference,  was  regularly  appointed  to 
that  field  of  labor,  the  Ladies'  Home  Missionary  Society  being 
responsible  for  his  salary.  This,  as  they  officially  state,  was 
the  Ninth  Mission  they  entered  upon  in  this  city. 

After  Mr.  Pease  had  commenced  his  work,  and  examined 
his  field,  he  found  ordinary  ministerial  labors  and  services  were 


FIVE  POINTS  HOt'SE  OF  INDUSTRY. 


5 


not  available  to  that  population,  in  their  necessitous,  suffering 
and  degraded  condition  ;  and,  like  the  man  who,  travelling  from 
Jerusalem  to  Jericho,  had  fallen  among  thieves,  they  needed 
some  good  Samaritan  to  bind  up  their  wounds,  nourish  them, 
provide  lodgings,  and  when  clothed  and  in  their  right  mind, 
teach  them  to  work,  provide  employment,  and  lead  them  in 
the  way  of  gaining  an  honest  livelihood.  This  was  necessarily, 
to  some  extent,  a  pre-requisite,  or,  at  least,  co-existent  with  re- 
ligious services  and  teaching.  Here  was  work  not  designed  in 
the  organization  of  the  "  New  York  Ladies'  Home  Missionary 
Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church,''  nor  had  their 
moneys  been  appropriated  for  such  purposes.  They  say  in 
reply  to  the  assertion,  that  their  organization  was  not  a  charitable 
but  a  religious  association,  ';  A  religious  association  denying  the 
claims  of  charity  is  certainly  a  novel  idea." 

Our  holy  religion  enjoins  the  duty  of  feeding  the  hungry  and 
clothing  the  naked  as  absolutely  as  it  does  prayer  or  any  other 
religious  exercise.  Every  Church  is  supposed  to  admit  this, 
both  in  theory  and  practice.  Many  Churches  have  among  their 
members  Sewing  Societies  who  clothe  the  naked,  and  others 
who  provide  for  various  wants  of  the  poor ;  and  Pastors  are 
often  applied  to  for  directions  in  obtaining  employment.  But, 
is  every  Church  performing  the  work  done  by  the  Rev.  L.  M. 
Pease  at  the  House  of  Industry  at  the  Five  Points  1  Is  there 
now  in  this  city  any  Church  or  religious  Society,  whether  Mis- 
sionary or  otherwise,  who  can  conceive  it  their  duty  or  privi- 
lege, by  their  existing  organization^  to  perform  such  work  1 
No.  Neither  did  the  New  York  Ladies'  Home  Missionary 
Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church  conceive  it  to  be 
their  legitimate  work.  vYhat  could  Mr.  Pease  do  ?  The 
Ladies  of  the  Home  Mission  placed  no  money  at  his  disposal 
for  such  purposes.  Why  just  what  he  did,  which  was,  to  tell 
of  such  cases  of  suffering,  and  destitution,  and  want,  as  came 
under  his  observation,  and  contributions  were  put  in  his  hands 
for  their  relief.  This  the  Ladies  well  knew,  and  their  own  hearts 
induced  them  as  individuals  to  help  in  the  work.  This  kind  of 
unofficial  business  increased,  so  that  it  became  evident  some 
system  should  be  adopted  to  bring  it  under  official  control. 
Some  eight  or  nine  months  had  thus  passed  away,  when  appli- 
cation was  made  on  behalf  of  the  Ladies  of  the  Mission,  to  the 
National  Temperance  Society,  desiring  said  Society  to  take  the 
control,  supervision  and  responsibilities  of  this  "  Physical" 


6 


FACTS  RELATING  TO  THE 


work,  employing  Mr.  Pease  as  their  agent,  and  the  Ladies  of 
the  Home  Mission  would  ask  for  the  appointment  of  another 
Missionary  to  attend  the  "  Spiritual"  part,  and  perform  the  re- 
ligious services  as  originally  designed.  This  arrangement  was 
made,  and  the  chattels  consisting  of  bedsteads,  bedding,  furni- 
ture, clothing,  bake  house,  &c,  (the  title  of  which  was  at  this 
time  in  Mr*.  Pease  personally,)  were  all  transferred  to  the 
National  Temperance  Society,  and  Mr.  Pease  became  their 
agent.  The  Ladies  of  the  Mission  succeeded  in  obtaining  the 
appointment  of  the  Rev.  John  Luckey  as  their  Missionary  at 
the  Five  Points  for  the  purposes  before  named. 

This  plan  was  gratifying  to  all  parties,  and  seemed  to  promise 
much  good,  but  subsequently,  difficulties  developed.  Although 
these  two  operations  were  dissimilar,  each  was  expected  to  har- 
monize with  and  be  promotive  of  the  other.  The  financial  in- 
terests were  distinct,  and  here  difficulty  arose. 

It  was  the  duty  of  Mr.  Pease,  as  the  agent  of  the  National 
Temperance  Society,  to  collect  funds  for  the  enterprise  at  the 
Five  Points,  in  which  he  was  engaged,  and  the  ladies  and  their 
agent  were  also  engaged  in  collecting  funds.  These  agencies 
were  frequently  found  on  the  same  track,  and  collisions  occurred. 
The  lines  or  peculiarities  of  the  two  enterprises  were  never 
marked  with  sufficient  distinctness  before  the  public.  Indeed 
few  understood  there  were  thus  two  interests,  and  contribu- 
tions were  generally  made  under  the  impression  that  it  was  all 
one  concern.  It  was  soon  found  that  feeding  the  hungry  and 
clothing  the  naked,  with  efforts  to  induce  habits  of  industry,  &c, 
was  the  more  popular  part  of  the  work,  and  the  most  effectual 
plea  for  "material  aid."  It  is  not  strange  therefore,  that  the 
"Home  Mission"  should  be  found  inclining  towards  this 
"  Physical  "  work. — Jealousies  and  bickerings  followed.  This 
was  the  state  of  affairs  at  the  first  of  February,  1852,  (some  ten 
months  after  Mr.  Pease  became  the  agent  of  the  National 
Temperance  Society).  At  this  time  it  was  necessary  to  deter- 
mine about  the  lease  of  premises  for  the  ensuing  year.  The 
difficulties  above  named,  caused  by  the  change  of  operations 
on  the  part  of  the  Ladies'  Home  Mission,  and  their  entering 
upon  that  part  of  the  work  by  agreement  assigned  to  the  Na- 
tional Temperance  Society,  induced  said  Society  to  appoint  a 
Committee,  consisting  of  John  Oliver  and  myself,  to  confer  with 
the  Ladies  of  the  Home  Mission,  and  if  possible,  procure  them 
to  define  their  position  and  contemplated  course.    The  Com- 


FIVE  POINTS  HOUSE  OF  INDUSTRY. 


7 


mittee  waited  on  a  number  of  gentlemen  of  the  advisory  Com- 
mittee, but  was  referred  to  the  Board  of  Directors,  whom  the 
Committee  met  at  one  of  the  meetings  of  said  Board ;  after 
sufficient  relation  of  circumstances,  difficulties,  &c,  the  Com- 
mittee desired  to  know  whether  the  Missionary  Society  would 
in  future  pursue  the  course  originally  understood,  (i.  e.)  that 
their  operations  and  the  labors  of  their  Missionary  would  be 
of  the  "  spiritual  and  pastoral  character,"  or  whether  experi- 
ence and  circumstances  had  caused  them  to  change  their  origi- 
nal plan,  and  they  designed  to  embrace  both  the  "  physical  and 
spiritual,"  in  their  operations'?  To  this  no  official  response 
could  be  had,  but  the  Committee  returned  with  the  conviction 
.that  the  latter  course  would  be  pursued,  and  so  reported  to  the 
Board  of  Managers  of  the  National  Temperance  Society.  The 
majority  of  the  active  members  of  the  Board  of  Managers  of 
this  Society  were  members  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
who,  foreseeing  that  collisions  and  damage  would  necessarily 
occur,  determined  to  get  out  of  the  way,  Wherefore,  they  re- 
solved to  relinquish  all  control  and  responsibility  of  the  "  Tem- 
perance Home"  at  the  Five  Points,  and  discontinued  Mr.  Pease 
as  their  agent,  transferring  to  him,  upon  the  payment  of  certain 
outstanding  liabilities,  all  properties  and  interests  belonging  to 
said  Society,  at  that  place.  A  Committee  was  appointed,  of 
which  the  subscriber  was  one,  to  execute  that  resolution,  and  it 
was  done.  Previous  to  this,  a  Committee  had  been  appointed 
to  examine  the  accounts,  receipts,  expenditures,  &c.  of  the  Rev. 
L.  M.  Pease,  from  the  time  he  became  agent  of  the  Temperance 
Society, — of  this  Committee  Mr.  W.  H.  Dikeman,  accountant 
in  the  Comptroller's  office,  was  the  chairman.  The  Committee 
spent  much  time  and  labor,  and  made  a  thorough  examination 
of  the  books  and  accounts,  followed  by  an  able  report  in  detail, 
certifying  to  the  correctness  of  them.  This  report  ought  to 
have  been  published,  but  the  Temperance  Society  ceasing  ope- 
rations about  that  time,  no  further  action  was  taken. 

Immediately  upon  the  relinquishment  of  the  Temperance 
Society,  Mr.  Pease,  by  counsel  of  friends  of  the  enterprise, 
again  leased  the  buildings,  and  several  gentlemen  were  associ- 
ated as  an  advising  Committee,  who  met  monthly,  or  oftener, 
to  supervise  the  affairs  of  the  Institution.  Steps  were  recently 
taken  for  obtaining  an  Act  of  Incorporation  to  give  the  Institu- 
tion greater  permanency  and  stability. 

The  foregoing  narrative  shows  how  the  separation  between 


8 


FACTS  RELATING  TO  THE 


Mr.  Pease  and  the  Ladies'  Home  Missionary  Society  occurred. 
Hence  it  is  not  true  "  that  the  Ladies  having  lost  confidence  in 
him,  asked  to  have  him  removed  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Luckey 
appointed." 

Mr.  Luckey  had  already  been  one  year  at  the  mission,  and 
Mr.  Pease  had  passed  from  the  ladies'  control  and  the  enterprise 
had  been  surrendered  by  the  Temperance  Society  upon  the  devel- 
opment of  this  antagonism,  when  the  ladies  doubtless  exerted 
their  influence  for  his  removal,  at  the  annual  Conference  of  May, 
1852,  because  any  other  man  at  that  point  on  the  Five  Points, 
would  have  been  less  objectionable  to  them. 

So  also  is  seen  with  what  integrity  the  charge  is  made  or 
sustained,  that  while  Mr.  Pease  was  engaged  primarily  at  the 
Home  Mission,  he  received  various  moneys  which  were  not 
paid  into  the  Treasury  of  said  Missionary  Society.  It  will  be 
seen,  that  during  the  year  (almost)  in  which  he  was  so  laboring, 
a  great  amount  of  this  "  Physical  "  work  was  done.  Beside 
the  out  door  aid,  several  buildings  had  been  hired,  cleaned, 
altered  ;  work  rooms,  furniture,  bedsteads,  bedding,  bake  house 
and  fixtures,  all  cost  money,  which  was  collected  specially  for 
such  purposes. 

Now  it  may  be  asked,  would  it  have  been  honest  in  Mr. 
Pease  to  have  put  this  money  in  the  Missionary  Treasury  to 
spread  the  Gospel,  when  he  could  not  get  one  dollar  of  it  back 
again  to  answer  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  contributed  1 

Mr.  Pease  is  thus  charged  with  having  received  the  proceeds 
of  a  temperance  lecture,  given  by  Mr.  John  B.  Gough,  of  which 
the  ladies  "  never  received  one  cent  of  the  money." 

A  few  weeks  since,  Mr.  C.  C.  Leigh,  now  member  of 
Assembly  from  this  city,  told  me  that  he  was  present,  at  that 
"  Gough  "  meeting — that  the  appeal  was  then  and  there  made 
to  the  people  in  behalf  of  the  bake  house — work  shop,  &c,  of 
the  Five  Points  Mission.  That  he  (Mr.  Leigh)  was  Treasurer, 
received  the  money  and  paid  it  over  to  Mr.  Pease  for  the  pur- 
poses named.  Mr.  Leigh  further  stated,  that  he  so  testified 
before  a  Quarterly  Conference  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  held  in  Greene-street,  where  this  and  other  charges  of 
like  character  had  been  preferred  against  the  Rev.  L.  M.  Pease, 
and  said  Conference  after  having  heard  all  the  testimony  in  the 
case,  acquitted  him  of  all  such  charges. 

It  is  insinuated  that  the  "  reports  "  of  the  results  made  by  Mr. 
Pease  are  sheer  fabrications,  that  names  have  been  sought,  and 


FIVE  POINTS  HOUSE  OF  INDUSTRY. 


9 


though  hundreds  have  been  reported,  not  fifty — twenty — ten 
— five — no  !  not  even  "  one  temperance  convert,  reclaimed  by 
Mr.  Pease,  could  be  discovered  in  the  Sodom  of  New  York." 
If  this  is  so  there  is  but  one  of  two  inferences — either  that  all 
"  the  virtue  and  efficiency"  is  with  the  New  York  Ladies'  Home 
Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church — which 
is  a  very  modest  conclusion — or  the  public  have  been  most 
egregiously  gulled. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  either  of  these  enterprises  engaged 
in  accomplishing  a  great  moral  work,  permit  such  exhibitions 
of  perverse  human  nature,  yet  an  overruling  Providence  will 
doubtless  guide  this  for  good,  because  the  watchful  jealousy 
thus  evinced  will  quickly  sound  the  alarm,  and  advise  the 
public  of  any  misconduct  in  their  servants.  But  it  is  not  well 
to  wait  for  this,  let  our  citizens  make  frequent  visits  to  these 
institutions,  they  are  accessible  at  all  proper  times,  and  the 
managers  will  cheerfully  yield  all  desirable  information.  Try 
Mr.  Pease  and  see  if  he  will  not  show  his  books  and  accounts, 
look  into  the  bake-house,  school,  workshops,  sick  rooms,  see 
the  inmates,  their  number,  character,  prospects  and  wants,  and 
then  act  as  duty  and  humanity  prompt. 

JOHN  STEPHENSON. 

New  York,  Jan.  19,  1852. 


LETTER  OF  THOMAS  EELLS. 

To  the  Editors  of  the  N.  Y.  Express. 

My  attention  has  been  called  to  an  article  in  your  paper  of 
Friday  evening  last,  containing  ten  or  twelve  specific  charges 
against  the  moral  character  of  the  Rev.  L.  M.  Pease.  1  deem 
it  a  duty  to  the  public,  and  to  the  cause  of  the  poor  outcast,  as 
well  as  to  the  more  immediate  object  of  that  flagrant  assault, 
to  state  a  few  facts  from  my  personal  knowledge,  in  answer  to 
the  charges  of  which  it  consists. 

For  the  last  four  years,  I  have  spent  when  in  the  city  and 
not  sick,  every  Sunday  and  some  two  or  three  evenings  of  each 
week,  at  the  Five  Points  ;  and  I  venture  to  f  ssert  that  there  is 
no  man  living  who  knows  more  of  the  history,  both  of  the 
Ladies'  Methodist  Mission,  and  of  the  House  of"  Industry,  than 
myself.    I  have  kept  a  journal  of  facts,  from  the  first  Sabbath 


10 


FACTS  RELATING  TO  THE 


— the  commencement  of  the  Mission — up  to  this  hour,  and  am 
not  compelled  to  resort  to  memory,  but  have  the  facts  and 
dates  on  record  before  me.  It  is  proper  to  add,  that  without 
any  official  connection,  responsibility,  or  interest  of  any  kind, 
other  than  that  of  every  well-wisher  to  the  cause  of  humanity, 
1  have  labored  personally  and  contributed  according  to  my 
means,  for  both  of  the  institutions  at  the  Five  Points,  in  perfect 
harmony  and  good  understanding  with  both,  from  the  very 
first ;  and  have  never  to  my  knowledge,  cherished  or  become 
the  object  of  an  unkind  feeling,  in  connection  with  either,  from 
that  day  to  this.  I  understand  that  the  book  forthcoming  from 
the  Ladies'  Mission,  contains  evidence  of  this  fact.  The  article 
says : — 

1.  Mr.  Pease  received  from  a  Southern  gentleman,  and  from  the  Sands 
street  Church  in  Brooklyn,  fifty  dollars  each.  Of  this  money  he  gave  no 
account  to  the  ladies." 

The  facts  are  these.  Mr.  Pease  had  started  his  "  Home " 
for  the  poor  and  destitute,  on  his  own  responsibility,  daily  re- 
ceiving, feeding,  and  clothing  large  numbers ;  and  I  know  of 
his  having  been  frequently  obliged  to  borrow  large  sums  of 
money  to  sustain  them.  I  have  known  him  with  a  hundred 
people  depending  on  him  for  support  and  not  one  dollar  in  his 
pocket ;  and  it  is  notorious  that  the  Ladies'  Society  never  pre- 
tended to  assume  the  slightest  degree  of  responsibility  for  that 
undertaking.  They  paid  his  salary  as  a  minister,  and  there  the 
relation  terminated. 

In  this  state  of  affairs  the  Sands  street  Sabbath  School  re- 
quested me  to  visit  them  and  present  the  claims  of  the  work  at 
the  Five  Points.  I  did  so,  directing  their  sympathies  as  my 
own  were  directed,  to  the  all-important  and  arduous  task  with 
which  Mr.  Pease  was  thus  struggling  alone  and  on  his  own  re- 
sponsibility. The  result  wTas  a  contribution  of  fifty  dollars, 
which  wras  tendered  to  me  to  be  applied  to  the  cause  I  had  ad- 
vocated. At  my  request,  however,  the  money  was  paid  directly 
to  Mr.  Pease,  who  gave  his  receipt  for  it  on  the  next  day  in 
my  presence  to  the  Secretary  of  the  School,  Mr.  Ira  Perego. 
It  was  expended  for  the  maintenance  of  the  "  Home,"  and  has 
stood  credited  to  The  donors  on  the  books  of  the  Institution, 
open  to  universal  inspection,  from  that  day  to  this.  So  with 
fifty  dollars  presented  by  the  "  Southern  Gentleman."  It  was 
given  to  Mr.  Pease  for  the  same  purpose — applied  to  the  same 


FIVE  POINTS  HOUSE  OF  INDUSTRY. 


11 


purpose,  and  credited  in  the  same  manner — all  with  my  imme- 
diate cognizance. 

2.  "  He  received  from  Jenny  Lind — as  the  agent  of  the  Ladies'  Mission — 
the  sum  of  $250,"  without  accounting  for  it. 

The  facts  are : — While  Mr.  Pease  was  sustaining  the  House 
of  Industry,  in  the  midst  of  the  difficulties  to  which  I  have 
alluded — I,  myself,  wrote  a  letter  to  Jenny  Lind,  pleading  the 
wants  of  the  "  Home."  She  nobly  responded  by  a  donation  of 
$200.  It  was  credited  on  the  books — (where  it  may  now  be  seen 
by  the  curious) — announced  in  the  public  journals — and  used 
to  feed  the  hungry  and  clothe  the  naked.  The  following  letter 
from  John  Jay,  Esq.,  who  was  Miss  Lind's  organ  in  this  benev- 
olent act,  will  explain  both  the  manner  and  the  purpose  of  the 
gift ;  showing  that  it  was  not  bestowed  upon  "  the  agent  of  the 
Ladies'  Mission,"  nor  designed  for  its  benefit. 

New  York,  Dec.  11th,  1850. 
To  Rev.  Mr.  Pease,  President  of  Ike  Temperance  Association, : 

Rev.  Sir. — I  have  the  pleasure  of  transmitting  to  you  the  sum  of  two 
hundred  dollars,  (in  a  check  to  your  order  upon  the  Bank  of  New  York,) 
as  a  donation  from  Miss  Lind,  for  the  relief  of  the  poor  at  the  Five  Points,  by 
the  Temperance  Association,  this  money  being  a  part  of  the  proceeds  of  the 
morning  concert  recently  given  by  that  lady  in  this  city  for  charitable 
purposes,  and  being  thus  appropriated  by  the  committee  whom  Miss  Lind 
appointed  to  determine  its  distribution.  I  have  the  honor  to  be,  with 
great  respect  your  most  obedient  servant.  JOHN  JAY. 

It  is  needless  to  add,  that  this  was  the  only  donation  ever 
made  to  Mr.  Pease  by  Jenny  Lind. 

3.  "  He  received  several  hundred  dollars  from  a  lecture  by  Mr.  Gough, 
by  acting  as  the  agent  of  the  Ladies'  Mission.  This  amount  he  never 
surrendered." 

The  facts.  At  one  of  our  Friday  evening  Temperance 
meetings  at  the  "  Home,"  Mr.  Gough  was  present,  in  company 
with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dikeman.  Mr.  Gough  was  so  delighted 
with  the  inmates  of  house,  that  he  said  to  Mr.  Pease  :  "Sir,  if 
you  will  get  up  a  meeting  in  the  Tabernacle,  I  will  come  and 
speak  for  you."  He  had  never  seen,  and  did  not  not  know  one 
of  the  ladies  of  the  Mission. 

The  meeting  was  held,  several  hundred  dollars  were  raised, 
and  Mr.  Gough  was  complimented  by  the  audience  with  an  en- 
thusiastic vote  of  thanks  on  the  spot.  The  money  was  placed, 
by  vote,  in  the  hands  of  Rev.  C.  C.  Leigh,  of  the  Methodist 


12 


FACTS  RELATING  TO  THE 


Church,  (now  a  member  of  the  New  York  Legislature,)  as  Trea- 
surer for  the  meeting,  for  the  "benefit  of  the  "  Home,"  and  was 
paid  out  from  time  to  time,  to  Mr.  Pease's  order,  as  the  wants 
of  the  "  Home  "  required.  Mr.  Leigh  can  be  referred  to  by 
those  who  desire  further  assurance  of  the  correctness  of  this 
statement.  If  Mr.  Gougii  was  dissatisfied,  as  alleged,  with  the 
acknowledgment  made  to  him,  and  afterwards  mixed  up  the 
supposed  affront  with  the  ladies  of  the  Methodist  Mission,  with 
whom  he  had  never  had  anything  to  do,  directly  or  indirectly, 
— the  public  will  perceive  how  little  this  has  to  do  with  the 
nature  of  Mr.  Pease's  conduct  in  the  transaction. 

4.  "  He  has  never  yet  yielded  bis  books  or  accounts,  although  a  commit- 
tee of  gentlemen  was  appointed,  after  the  Ladies  failed  to  get  them." 

More  facts.  I  was  present  at  an  examination  of  Mr.  Pease's 
books  and  accounts,  made  in  consequence  of  certain  imputations, 
in  the  basement  of  the  Green  street  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
after  the  establishment  had  passed  under  the  control  of  the 
National  Temperance  Society.  Five  Methodist  Clergymen 
and  the  Presiding  Elder,  Rev.  Benjamin  Griffin,  examined 
them  there,  closely  and  critically,  and  the  result  wras,  that  each 
of  them  exclaimed,  "  These  books  are  correct ;  we  cannot  see 
anything  wrong  in  them."  At  this  investigation  the  Gough 
atfair  was  one  of  the  particular  subjects  inquired  into,  and  it 
was  decided  that  the  accounts  and  conduct  of  Mr.  Pease  in  the 
matter  were  correct. 

5.  "  The  ladies  did  not  apply  for  his  re-appointment,  because  they  had 
lost  all  confidence  in  his  assertions  and  financial  statements." 

Let  "  the  ladies  "  answer  for  themselves  this  point,  and  in- 
form the  public  how  and  why  Mr.  Pease  came  to  be  transferred 
from  their  employment.  The  following  is  an  extract  from  an 
official  communication  on  the  subject,  published  in  the  papers 
of  this  city,  soon  after  the  separation,  under  the  signature  of 
Imogen  Mercein,  as  Corresponding  Secretary  of  the  Ladies' 
Home  Missionary  Society  of  the  M.  E.  Church,  "  by  order  of 
the  Board.''''  After  relating  the  circumstances  of  Mr.  Pease's 
original  appointment,  they  say  : — 

"  With  his  success  the  public  have  already  "been  informed,  and  the  result 
of  his  energetic  efforts  can  be  witnessed  at  any  time  by  those  interested  in 
this  mission.  Mr.  Pease  immediately  found  that  the  fearful  prevalence  of 
intemperance  was  a  complete  barrier  to  the  success  of  all  efforts  for  their 
Spiritual  good — that  the  temperance  cause  must  be  the  basis  of  all  im- 


FIVE  POINTS  HOUSE  OF  INDUSTRY. 


13 


provement.  He,  therefore,  turned  his  attention  to  this  point,  and  soon 
realized  that  all  efforts  must  prove  abortive  unless  the  miserable  victims, 
when  rescued,  could  be  furnished  with  employment.  This  led  to  the  estab- 
lishment of  the  work-room,  <fcc,  so  enlarging  Mr.  Pease's  respmisibilities 
a)id  eludes,  that  it  became  impossible  for  him  ever  to  supervise  the  7>iission 
in  all  its  aspects.  At  this  point,  the  National  Temperance  Society,  who 
had  been  deeply  interested  in  the  movement,  came  forward  and  offered  to 
take  the  whole  temporal  part  of  the  establishment  under  their  care  ;  and 
judging  that  Mr.  Pease's  qualifications  for  that  work  had  been  fully  tested, 
desired  him  to  become  their  agent.  Application  was  made  to  the  Xew  York 
Conference,  then  in  session,  and  the  Bishop  consented  that  Mr.  Pease  should 
take  that  appoiyitment. 

Such  was  the  termination  of  Mr.  Pease's  connection  with  the 
Ladies'  3Iission,  and  it  was  never  afterwards  renewed. 

6.  "  The  National  Temperance  Society  were  not  satisfied  with  Mr.  Pease's 
financial  statements,  and  from  this  cause  and  his  unveracity,  they  dissolved 
their  connexion  with  him,  before  the  time  for  which  he  was  engaged  expired." 

I  understand  that  the  records  of  the  National  Temperance 
Society  will  show  the  reverse  of  the  above  statements.  In  con- 
sequence of  rumors  affecting  the  integrity  of  Mr.  Pease,  (simi- 
lar to  some,  the  character  of  which  I  have  exposed.)  a  committee 
of  investigation  was  appointed,  of  which  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dikeman 
of  the  Methodist  Church,  (who  may  now  be  seen  daily  at  the 
Comptroller's  office,  City  Hall,)  was  chairman.  Mr.  Dikeman 
will  sustain  the  assertion  that  their  report,  after  a  searching  in- 
vestigation, was  unanimously  in  favor  of  Mr.  Pease,  in  every 
particular,  and  recommended  the  continuance  of  the  Society's 
relation  with  him.  Also,  that  the  report  was  approved  by  the 
Executive  Committee,  and  that  this  was  the  last  of  all  imputa- 
tions against  Mr.  Pease,  during  his  connection  with  the  Society. 
Mr.  W.  H.  Cornell  and  Mr.  John  Stephenson,  of  the  M.  E. 
Church — (the  first,  at  this  very  day,  and  the  latter  until  recently, 
a  Director  of  the  Five  Points  House  of  Industry) — and  others, 
who  may  easily  be  referred  to,  were  members  of  the  Executive 
Committee,  and  will  fully  sustain  these  statements,  and  can 
further  testify,  of  their  own  knowledge,  that  the  separation  be- 
tween Mr.  Pease  and  the  Society  was  brought  about  solely  by 
the  financial  inability  of  the  latter,  and  took  place  without  any 
abatement  of  mutual  confidence  and  cordiality  between  them. 

7.  "  Not  one  convert  reclaimed  by  Mr.  Pease  could  be  discovered." 

The  writer  of  this  charge  forgot  that  two  of  the  most  promi- 
nent opposers  of  Mr.  Pease,  who  have  persecuted  him  with 
unaccountable  bitterness,  owe  their  reformation  to  Mr.  Pease 


14 


FACTS  RELATING  TO  THE 


and  his  House  of  Industry,  and  are  still  connected  with  the 
Ladies'  Mission — monuments,  so  far  as  they  possess  respect  a- 
bility,  of  his  success  as  a  Methodist  Missionary.  The  curious 
can  be  referred  to  a  multitude  of  these  living  monuments,  by 
calling  at  the  House  of  Industry,  or  upon  me. 

8.  "  He  has  received  larger  contributions,  but  distributed  less  for  the 
benefit  of  the  poor,  than  the  Ladies'  Mission." 

The  books  of  the  House  of  Industry  will  show  to  any  one 
who  wishes  to  examine  them,  that  every  dollar  received  or 
earned  at  the  House  of  Industry,  has  been  frugally  applied  to 
the  support  of  its  destitute  inmates,  and  the  relief  of  sufferers 
outside,  or  invested  for  the  permanent  benefit  of  the  poor  of  the 
city. 

9.  "  He  has  been  known  to  sell  boxes  of  clothes  to  second  hand  Jew 
stores." 

If  this  is  supposed  to  be  of  any  consequence,  I  can  say  that  i 
I  happen  to  know  of  some  worn  out  clothes  being  sold,  on  one 
occasion,  for  carpet  rags,  when  past  any  other  use,  and  the  pro- 
ceeds applied  to  the  support  of  the  Home.  The  enemies  of  the 
House  of  Industry  might  perhaps  have  been  allowed  the  full 
benefit  of  this  momentous  circumstance  without  comment. 

10.  "  Mr.  Pease  once  informed  the  public  that  there  had  been  for  five 
weeks  past,  an  average  attendance  of  one  hundred  at  his  workshop;" 
whereas,  "  this  workshop  would  not  hold  one  hundred." 

The  Ladies'  Missionary  Society  are  good  authority  in  these 
premises,  and  they  will  excuse  the  liberty  I  take  of  quoting  once 
more  from  their  official  reports,  on  a  subject  of  which  it  is  not 
supposable  that  they  would  have  spoken  either  ignorantly  or 
deceitfully. 

The  Seventh  Annual  Report  (1851,)  says,  in  Miss  Mereehrs 
own  language  and  person  : — 

"  The  women  who  desired  work,  were  invited  to  the  Mission  room,  and 
there  sewed  under  the  supervision  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pease,  during  the  entire 
day.    For  five  weeks  the  daily  attendance  averaged  one  hundred." 

I  will  only  add  that  on  Sunday  last  I  counted  in  the  identical 
room,  then  used  as  a  workshop,  (without  the  enlargement.)  two 
hundred  and  forty  children,  eighty  women  and  twenty  men  : — 
total,  three  hundred  and  forty,  all  comfortably  seated. 


FIVE  POINTS  HOUSE  OF  INDUSTRY. 


15 


11.  The  charge  of  profane  and  indecent  language. 

There  is  a  class  of  accusations  to  which  no  man  entitled  to 
entertain  a  decent  respect  for  himself  can  be  expected  to  descend. 
The  circumstances  and  the  language  of  Mr.  Pease  on  the  occa- 
sion referred  to  in  the  charge  of  profane  arid  abusive  language, 
are  well  known  to  me ;  and  if  I  could  think  it  right  to  lower 
myself  or  the  subject  of  my  communication  so  far  as  to  explore 
the  calumny,  it  would  appear  that  the  real  sentiments  and  ex- 
pressions of  Mr.  Pease  were  as  unlike  those  attributed  to  him, 
as  the  solemn  warning  of  a  Christian  Minister  against  a  future 
judgment,  are  to  the  blasphemous  ribaldry  concocted  and 
gloated  over  by  the  authors  of  that  article. 

12.  "  In  whose  name  has  Mr.  Pease's  far-famed  philanthropic  farm  been 
purchased."  , 

The  "  House  of  Industry  "  is  not  yet  a  chartered  institution, 
but  soon  will  be.  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pease  have  jointly  signed  a 
bond  to  make  over  the  farm  to  the  Board  of  Directors,  as  soon 
as  a  charter  can  be  obtained. 

I  have  only  to  add,  in  conclusion,  that  Mr.  Pease  has,  to  my 
knowledge,  kept  a  strict  account  of  the  moneys  and  goods  re- 
ceived by  him  or  earned  in  the  institution,  since  the  day  he  first 
opened  its  doors.  Those  accounts  are,  and  always  have  been, 
open  to  inspection  by  any  who  wish  to  see  them,  and  each  of 
your  readers  has  it  in  his  power  to  verify  personally  the  facts  I 
have  stated  from  the  the  testimony  of  those  accounts. 

The  inference  that  he  must  receive  "  perquisites  "  to  enable 
him  to  make  such  large  donations  of  money,  to  the  cause  in 
which  he  labors  day  and  night,  may  pass.  But  as  to  his  own 
emoluments,,  I  can  say,  for  I  know  it,  that  they  have  not  been 
sufficient  to  require  any  "  perquisites"  to  make  them  up,  beyond 
the  slender  salary  of  practically  much  less  than  "  $900,"  per 
annum,  which  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Pease  draw  for  the  incessant  and  un- 
divided labors,  and  continual  perilous  exposure,  which  has  reduced 
each  of  them  to  the  appearance  of  a  meagre  shadow,  wan,  attenu- 
ated and  sickly,  but  energetic,  untiring  and  uncomplaining  as  ever. 

A  man's  word  is  usually  as  good  as  his  oath ;  but  both  of 
these  are  ready,  if  necessary,  to  substantiate  all  that  I  have 
asserted.  THOMAS  EELLS, 

No.  23  Hicks  street,  Brooklyn. 


1C 


FACTS  RELATING  TO  TUB 


THE  PERSECUTION  OF  MR.  PEASE. 

From  the  N.  Y.  Courier  and  Enquirer,  Feb.  9th. 

The  N.  Y.  Express  has  a  second  time  suffered  itself  to  be 
used,  as  a  vent  for  the  vulgar  animosity,  individual  and  represent- 
ative, of  an  irresponsible  assailant  of  the  Rev.  L.  M.  Pease. 
The  Express  astonished  its  friends  sufficiently  by  the  first 
offence.  A  communication  so  scandalous  never  before  appear- 
ed within  our  observation,  in  a  respectable  newspaper  ;  and  the 
coarse  violence  which  disarmed  the  attack  of  all  plausibility,  it 
would  seem  might  have  warned  even  the  Express  against  the 
dangerous  responsibility  of  publishing  it.  But  that  any  editor 
or  man,  in  his  senses,  and  without  a  personal  motive,  could 
have  become  the  vehicle  of  a  second  cart-load  of  billingsgate 
from  the  same  quarter,  after  the  scorching  and  unanswerable  ex- 
posures by  Mr.  Stephenson  and  Mr.  Eells,  which  had  followed 
and  consumed  the  first — is  a  wonder  greater  than  the  most 
generous  public  can  be  made  to  believe.  Especially  so,  since 
the  second  communication  served  only  to  give  aggravated  and 
explanatory  evidence  of  the  personal  rancor  in  which  both  origi- 
nated, and  to  remove  by  its  utter  failure  in  proof,  any  appre- 
hension that  might  otherwise  have  remained  of  the  existence  of 
two  sides  to  the  argument — the  futile  struggles  of  the  writer  to 
re-erect  the  fragments  of  his  demolished  accusations,  amounting 
to  the  most  humiliating  confession  of  falsehood  which  could  well 
be  framed. 

But  a  third  wonder  has  come  to  light.  Certain  Ladies  of 
the  Methodist  Home  Mission,  it  seems,  have  chosen  such  an  in- 
strument and  such  an 'associate,  as  that  by  which*  they  choose 
to  come  forward  openly  at  last,  as  the  patrons  and  supporters 
of  a  religious  crusade  against  a  man  with  whom  they  have  had 
no  manner  of  relation  for  years.  The  delicacy  with  which  Mr. 
Pease  and  his  friends  have  studiously  suppressed  every  avoid- 
able allusion  to  them,  even  in  self-defence, — the  veil  of  charita- 
ble silence  which,  to  preserve  religion  itself  from  scandal,  has 
been  constantly  thrown  over  them,  by  the  benevolent  institu- 
tion which  they  began  to  oppose  from  the  moment  that  they 
lost  ecclesiastical  control  over  it — all  this  is  thrown  away. 
Their  own  hands  have  rent  the  veil,  and  their  vindictive  agency 
in  this  persecution  stands  confessed  and  undisguised  before  the 
public.    They  have  not  harmed  the  object  of  their  animosity, 


FIVE  POINTS  HOUSE  OF  INDUSTRY. 


17 


by  the  pointless  and  evasive  testimony  which  testifies  only  of 
the  unchristian  spirit  which  actuated  it ; — for  what  christian 
motive  could  induce  them,  unassailed  and  unprovoked,  to  vilify 
obtrusively  before  the  public,  a  man  for  whose  conduct  they 
have  long  ceased  to  have  any  responsibility,  and  from  whom, 
with  all  their  dislike,  they  had  been  unable  to  part,  as  to  eccle- 
siastical relations,  otherwise  than  in  peace  and  fellowship  1 — 
but  they  have  fixed  upon  the  name  of  religion  and  of  christian 
charity,  a  stain  which  all  the  piety  of  their  lives  will  be  insuf- 
ficient to  efface.  They  claim,  indeed,  to  have  been  assailed, 
ridiculed  and  misrepresented  by  Mr.  Pease,— as  if  this  were  a 
christian  apology  for  retorting  instead  of  repelling,  the  alleged 
assault — but  the  public  know  of  no  such  thing.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  the  offences  which  their  champion  now  confesses  to,  without 
the  shame  appropriate  to  such  a  confession,  we  have  seen  nothing 
claiming  connection  with  the  House  of  Industry,  in  which  an 
unkind  or  disparaging  allusion  was  made  to  the  Methodist 
Mission  or  its  friends.  Their  plea,  miserable  in  itself,  is  miser- 
ably untrue. 

Let  not  the  respectable  denomination  to  which  these  persons 
belong,  be  held  responsible  indiscriminately  for  their  conduct. 
It  is  known  that  many  of  its  best  members  regard  their  course 
with  sorrow  and  mortification,  and  give  their  warm  and  open 
support  to  Mr.  Pease,  nobly  regardless  of  sectarian  motives 
and  influences.  The  Methodist  Church  will  probably  never 
lack  an  able  and  influential  representation  in  the  directorate  of 
the  Five  Points  House  of  Industry. 

We  do  not  purpose  to  notice  the  pitiable  instrument  and 
embodiment  of  all  this  malice.  "The  worm  will  do  his  kind." 
No  other  witness  could  expose  the  antecedents,  personal  quali- 
ties, and  immediate  motives  of  this  assailant,  with  the  revolting 
distinctness  in  which  he  has  himself  displayed  them.  But  the 
exertions  of  the  auxiliary  ladies  and  ex-members  of  the  Tem- 
perance Society,  to  give  a  color  of  proof,  a  painted  prop,  to  the 
accusations  in  which  they  have  gratuitously  interested  them- 
selves, will  repay  a  passing  glance,  for  the  benefit  of  your 
readers  generally,  whose  tastes  will  not  lead  them  to  trace  the 
intricacies  of  a  production  like  that  in  question, — before  we  in- 
troduce a  piece  of  conclusive  official  evidence  on  the  only  point 
not  fully  disposed  of  by  the  letter  of  Mr.  Eells. 

The  whole  series  of  charges  relating  to  monies  received  by 
Mr.  Pease  as  an  agent  of  the  Ladies'  Mission,  but  not  account- 


18 


FACTS  RELATING  TO  THE 


ed  for  to  them,  was  destroyed  by  proving  that  none  of  these 
moneys  were  received  by  him  as  their  agent,  or  in  any  capacity 
or  for  any  purpose,  as  to  which  he  was  accountable  to  them. 
The  Ladies  and  their  friends  have  attempted  to  set  up  these 
charges  again,  by  means  of  a  wretched  equivocation  on  the 
term  "  Five  Points  Mission ;"  introducing  testimonies  to  show 
that  the  funds  in  question  were  given  (as  they  certainly  were) 
to  the  Five  Points  Mission ;  a  term  by  which  it  is  notorious 
that  Mr.  Pease's  enterprise  has  been  designated  from  the  first, 
by  nine-tenths  of  those  who  have  spoken  of  it,  written  about  it, 
or  addressed  it ;  but  which  is  dishonestly  implied  to  have  had 
intentional  application  only  to  the  work  of  the  Methodist  Ladies. 
A  confession  at  once  so  full  and  so  dishonorable  in  itself,  we 
have  rarely  seen.  It  is  a  melancholy  confirmation,  that  these 
Ladies  in  the  same  connection,  admit  that  "  Mr.  Pease  compelled 
the  Board  to  pay  over  to  him  "  that  portion  of  the  Gough  funds 
which  had  got  into  their  hands,  on  the  ground  that  it  was  intended 
for  his  use  in  aiding  the  destitute.  - 

Again,  the  unanswerable  fact  that  Mr.  Pease's  accounts 
(contrary  to  the  charge  made  against  him)  were  submitted  for 
examination,  and  found  correct  by  a  Methodist  Committee,  is 
evaded  by  a  certificate  that  certain  persons  had  failed  in  an  ap- 
plication to  get  possession  of  the  books  of  Mr.  Pease's  private 
enterprise  /  It  was  certainly  judicious  to  keep  them,  especially 
when  they  had  been  so  well  examined,  endorsed  and  certified, 
and  to  keep  them,  as  they  always  have  been  kept,  open  to  all 
proper  investigation.  Further,  a  member  of  the  National 
Temperance  Society  certifies  to  his  failure  in  an  attempt  to  get 
Mr.  Pease's  accounts  out  of  his  own  custody — an  attempt 
which  he  is  strangely  not  ashamed  to  confess — but  it  is  not  so 
much  as  pretended,  that  the  accounts  were  ever  withheld  from 
investigation  for  one  moment,  on  any  occasion.  The  stress  laid 
upon  the  absence  of  vouchers  for  the  earlier  accounts,  is  wholly 
misplaced  of  course,  in  a  case  like  the  present,  where  no  evidence 
impugning  the  correctness  of  the  accounts,  has  been  obtained  by 
years  of  vindictive  research. 

The  stubborn  fact  that  the  Ladies'  Society,  so  far  from  having 
uttered  a  word  of  complaint  against  Mr.  Pease  while  in  connec- 
tion with  him,  did  emphatically  recommend  him  in  their  annual 
and  occasional  reports  to  the  public,  is  now  evaded  by  them 
with  the  discreditable  averment  that  they  were — to  use  plain 
terms — insincere  and  disingenuous  at  the  time,  in  order  to 


FIVE  POINTS  HOUSE  OF  INDUSTRY. 


19 


escape  "the  pain  of  any  public  difficulty  with  Mr.  Pease." 
Whither  has  this  exquisite  delicacy  of  charitable  feeling  fled,  at 
the  present  time,  when  without  a  tolerable  pretext  founded  in 
truth,  they  obtrude  themselves  upon  the  public  to  proclaim — 
what  ?  Not  that  they  have  a  solitary  fact  to  disclose  which 
would  have  enabled  them  then  or  now,  to  make  "  a  public  diffi- 
culty with  Mr.  Pease,"  without  covering  themselves  with  con- 
fusion, but  simply  that  they  had  had  difficulties  with  him,  and 
that  their  good  will  and  confidence  (prodigious  fact!)  had  been 
withdrawn  ;  although  by  their  own  avowal  they  never  ventured 
till  long  after  the  subject  could  in  any  way  be  Drought  to  an  im- 
partial tribunal,  to  give  the  public  even  an  indirect  intimation 
of  that  tact. 

The  striking  confutation  of  the  workroom  slander  is  not  met 
or  even  evaded.  Only  the  ladies  again  come  forward  to  grace 
themselves  with  an  avowal  that  their  own  positive  testimony 
quoted  on  this  point  was  merely  supposititious  and  unreliable. 
The  avowal  is  highly  pertinent  to  the  general  case,  indeed,  but 
seems  to  bear  strongly  on  the  wrong  side  of  it. 

We  now  come  to  the  National  Temperance  Society.  On 
this  topic  alone,  conclusive  direct  evidence  has  not  been  made 
public,  and  having  personally  referred  to  the  only  proper  evi- 
dence— that  of  the  official  records — we  feel  called  upon  to  give 
it  in  sufficient  detail  to  demonstrate  the  reckless  corruption 
which  pervades  the  attacks  published  by  the  Express.  Ex  uno 
disce  omnes.  It  is  fit  to  premise,  however,  that  the  ex-members 
who  sign  the  certificate  in  support  of  this  charge,  do  not  dare  to 
sustain  the  essential  part  of  it,  which  was  that  the  National 
Temperance  Society  dissolved  their  connection  with  Mr.  Pease 
before  the  expiration  of  the  engagement,  on  account  of  his 
"unveracity"  and  financial  imfuthtulness.  In  support  (!)  of 
this  statement,  five  or  six  of  the  twenty-five  directors  have  signed 
a  certificate  that  the  Society  were  not  satisfied  with  Mr.  Pease 
in  these  respects.  The  opinion  of  these  well  known  sectarian 
enemies  of  Mr.  Pease,  will  now  be  compared  with  the  official 
record  of  facts. 

It  appears  by  a  thorough  examination  of  all  the  records,  that 
from  first  to  last  neither  the  Society,  its  Directors,  or  its  Execu- 
tive Committee,  ever  took  notice  of  the  complaints  of  Mr  Pease's 
enemies,  even  so  far  as  to  appoint  a  committee  of  investigation. 
It  is  apparent  that  hostility  to  Mr.  Pease  existed  among  the 
members ;  but  it  is  certain  that  in  their  official  capacity  they 


FACTS  RELATING  TO  THE 


never  ventured  to  manifest  it,  and  still  less,  to  state  the  grounds 
of  it. 

One  or  two  complaints  appear  on  the  records  early  in  the 
connection  of  the  Society  with  Mr.  Pease,  growing  out  of  an 
alleged  want  of  promptness  in  rendering  statistical  returns  ;  and 
one  of  Mr.  Pease's  financial  reports  was  referred  back  to  him 
for  further  details.  It  was  evident  that  Mr.  Pease  had  too 
much  to  do,  and  the  assistance  of  a  clerk  was  asked  for  by 
motions  which  appear  on  the  minutes,  but  was  repeatedly  re- 
fused, until  the  5th  of  November,  1851,  when  a  clerk  was  ap- 
pointed for  one  month,  by  a  resolution  of  the  Executive  com- 
mittee, to  assist  in  getting  the  accounts  in  order.  December 
3rd,  it  appears  by  a  report  from  the  Committee  having  that 
matter  in  charge,  that  the  clerk  appointed,  and  also  another 
whom  they  had  engaged  as  a  substitute,  were  objectionable  to 
Mr.  Pease,  and  had  been  successively  refused  by  him.  There- 
upon, the  Executive  Committee  instructed  their  committee  forth- 
with to  appoint  another.  This  was  done,  and  Mr.  R.  C.  Bull 
served  to  the  close  of  the  connection,  as  Book-keeper  and  Cashier 
of  the  Home,  responsible  solely  and  directly  to  the  Society. 
All  the  accounts  were  posted  and  balanced  by  him,  for  the  year, 
and  on  his  report  was  based  in  part  the  report  of  the  committee 
alluded  to  in  Mr.  Eells'  letter,  and  the  action  of  the  Society 
which  followed,  and  which  we  are  about  to  quote.  No  ex- 
pression by  act  or  opinion,  inculpatory  of  Mr.  Pease,  can  be 
found  in  the  records.  The  committee  alluded  to  is  found  not 
to  have  been  appointed  with  reference  to  any  imputations  upon 
Mr.  Pease,  but  simply  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  how  far 
the  Society  was  in  a  condition  to  continue  its  operations. 

December  12th,  1851,  the  Directors  passed  the  following 
resolution  : 

Resolved — That  a  Committee  be  appointed  to  examine  into  the  whole 
state  of  the  financial  concerns  of  the  Society,  and  to  report  at  the  adjourned 
meeting ;  and  that  the  said  Committee  report  their  opinion  as  to  the  prac- 
ticability of  continuing  the  present  operations  of  the  Society. 

W.  H.  Dikeman,  Benj.  Mason,  Isaac  J.  Oliver,  and  John 
Falconer,  were  appointed  this  committee. 

They  reported,  January  26,  1852.  Under  the  head  of  "  The 
Home  "  they  gave  first  a  condensed  statement  of  all  the  finan- 
cial concerns,  receipts,  and  expenditures  of  the  Home  from  the 
beginning,  correctly  balanced,  and  without  comment.  Next  a 
statement  of  its  assets  and  liabilities.    Then  a  statement  of 


FIVE   POINTS  HOUSE  OF  INDUSTRY. 


21 


the  number  and  condition  of  the  inmates,  followed  by  warmly 
congratulatory  remarks  upon  the  successful  results  of  the  work, 
which  close  with  this  paragraph  : 

"  In  relation  to  the  question,  Shall  the  Home  be  continued  % 
your  Committee  would  say  that  in  their  opinion  the  Society  are 
so  committed  to  this  object  before  the  public,  that  they  cannot 
with  propriety  withdraw  from  the  enterprise,  but  on  the  con- 
trary they  will  be  compelled  by  circumstances  and  success  to 
enlarge  their  operations,  and  build  up  an  Institution  that  will 
long  remain  as  a  monument  of  their  foresight  and  benevolence. 
The  Committee  however  will  confine  themselves  in  their  recom- 
mendations at  the  'present  time,  to  the  Home  as  it  is  now  conducted." 
[Excepting  this  sentence,  the  italics  are  the  Committee's  own.] 

The  Committee  proceed  to  recommend  securing  the  buildings 
of  the  Home  for  another  year  ;  the  employment  of  a  business 
agent,  so  as  to  leave  Mr.  Pease  "  to  attend  to  the  more  im- 
portant work  of  counselling  and  instructing ;  and  to  the  col- 
lection of  subscriptions,  &c,  for  its  maintenance  ;"  and  finally 
an  application  to  the  Legislature  for  further  aid  to  the  Home. 
Thereupon  it  was 

Resolved — That  the  Committee  be  requested  to  prepare  their  report  for 
publication  and  for  presentation  to  the  Legislature,  and  that  the  Secretary 
be  directed  to  prepare  an  appeal  to  the  Legislature  for  another  appropria- 
tion ;  and  that  the  subject  of  leasing  the  buildings  for  another  year,  be  re- 
ferred to  the  Executive  Committee,  with  power. 

The  Executive  Committee  resolved  to  lease  the  buildings  for 
another  year.  But  at  a  meeting  of  the  Directors,  held  March 
3rd,  1852,  present,  Messrs.  Falconer,  Sands,  Dikeman,  I.  J. 
Oliver,  Godine,  Pease,  North,  Stephenson,  J.  W.  Oliver, 
Mason,  Bird  and  Warren,  the  following  resolutions  were 
passed : 

Resolved — Tn  view  of  the  limited  resources  of  the  Society,  that  it  is  not 
expedient  to  continue  the  Industrial  Temperance  Home,  after  the  1st  of 
May  next.  » 

Resolved — That  a  Committee  be  appointed  to  take  charge  of  this  matter, 
and  see  how  it  can  be  disposed  of,  and  that  the  Committee  have  power  to 
settle  in  full  the  relations  of  the  Industrial  Temperance  Home  to  the  National 
Temperance  Society. 

Resolved — That  it  is  expedient  to  reduce  the  expenses  of  the  Society  to 
the  smallest  practicable  limits,  for  the  current  year,  and  that  it  is  inexpe- 
dient to  renew  engagements,  after  the  1st  of  May  next,  either  with  our 
Agent,*  or  for  the  present  office. 


*  Rev.  C.  J.  Warren. 


22 


FACTS  RELATING  TO  TnE 


At  the  next  meetiDg  the  committee  reported  arrangements 
agreed  upon  with  Mr.  Pease,  which  were  approved  :  Mr.  Pease 
taking  the  Home,  both  assets  and  liabilities',  off  the  hands  off  the 
Society,  and  the  Society  paying  the  balance  due  him.  Thus 
the  connection  terminated  and  thus  the  whole  subject  of  the 
financial  relations  and  the  motives  of  the  separation  is  authori- 
tatively and  fully  explained.  It  appears  in  connection  with  the 
passage  of  the  resolutions  last  quoted,  that  some  proposition  in 
relation  to  the  Home,  with  reasons  therefor,  (the  nature  of 
which  does  not  even  appear  on  the  Journal)  was  introduced 
and  failed.  This  may  possibly  be  intelligible  when  taken  in 
connection  with  the  unfavorable  feelings  towards  Mr.  Pease,  by 
which  some  of  the  then  directors  now  avow  themselves  to  have 
been  actuated.  It  is  rendered  certain  by  the  above  extracts, 
that  the  discontinuance  of  the  Home,  of  their  agent,  Mr.  Warren, 
and  their  office,  was  done  at  the  same  time,  and  from  the  same 
motive,  viz :  pecuniary  difficulty.  The  Society  ceased  opera- 
tions finally,  in  a  short  time  after  this. 

The  above  facts  are  submitted  to  the  public,  without  suggestion 
or  assistance  from  Mr.  Pease  or  any  of  his  friends.  The  writer 
offers  no  apology  for  his  gratuitous  interference.  The  cause 
aimed  at  through  the  person  of  the  Rev.  L.  M.  Pease,  is  that 
of  humanity  in  its  broadest  sense,  and  of  Christianity  in  its 
essential  elements  ;  and  no  specific  enterprise  on  foot  in  the 
name  of  either,  can  compete  in  importance  or  obligation,  with 
that  of  introducing  the  Gospel  element  of  reformation  among 
the  helpless  outcasts  of  society,  through  avenues  opened  by 
honorable  employment,  and  well  directed  aid  to  moral  or 
physical  infirmity. 


From  the  New  York  Courier  and  Enquirer  February  9th. 
[editorial.] 

We  publish  this  morning  an  extended  communication  .in 
reply  to  the  attacks,  which  have  been  made  through  the  medium 
of  the  Express,  upon  the  character  of  the  Five  Points  Missionary, 
Rev.  Mr.  Pease.  It  comes  from  a  gentleman  who  has  taken 
particular  pains  to  investigate  the  whole  subject,  and  whose 
truthfulness  and  love  of  justice  are  worthy  of  the  most  implicit 
confidence.  In  view  of  the  clearness  and  method  with  which 
he  presents  his  disproofs,  and  in  view  also  of  the  aggravated 
nature  of  the  provocation,  we  can  forgive  the  indignant  spirit 


FIVE  POINTS  HOUSE  OF  INDUSTRY. 


23 


with  which  he  writes.  There  is  a  vileness  in  these  unprovoked 
and  unremitting  attacks  upon  the  most  self-denying  and  most 
useful  missionary  on  the  American  continent,  which  ought  to 
fill  every  honest  breast  with  indignation. 

This  is  a  matter  of  public  concern.  It  has  long  been  said 
that  no  man  can  go  among  the  degraded  population  of  this  city 
and  honestly  labor,  during  any  length  of  time,  for  their  reform, 
without  bringing  upon  himself  calumnies  that  will  inevitably  end 
in  ruining  his  good  name.  The  man  who  goes  into  battle  no 
more  literally  takes  his  life  in  his  hand,  than  the  man  takes  his 
character  in  his  hand  who  ventures  into  such  a  field  of  benevo- 
lence. It  is  at  the  mercy  of  every  hater  of  good,  and  of  every 
profiter  by  iniquity.  It  matters  not  though  the  philanthropic 
wor&er  be  animated  with  the  soul  of  an  Apostle,  he  is  not  secure, 
for  his  vulgar  enemies  full  well  understand  the  truth  of  the 
vulgar  adage,  "  Throw  mud  enough,  and  some  of  it  will  be  sure 
to  stick."  But  the  question  has  at  last  come  to  this  :  Will 
this  intelligent  community  longer  tolerate  this  systematic 
detraction  of  its  greatest  benefactor  %  There  is  no  man  amongst 
us  who  is  doing  so  much  towards  drying  up  the  sources  of 
vice  and'  crime  as  Mr.  Pease.  He  is  not  only  rescuing  im- 
mortal souls  from  otherwise  inevitable  ruin,  but  he  is,  in  a 
most  important  degree,  lightening  the  material  burdens  of  the 
city  and  the  State.  By  a  system  of  prevention  which  will  tell 
in  the  speedy  future,  he  is  doing  the  work  of  a  hundred  police- 
men and  a  court  of  criminal  law.  We  know  whereof  we  affirm, 
for  we  have  long  been  in  the  habit  of  visiting  his  Institution, 
and  thoroughly  understand  its  mode  of  working  and  its  effects. 
If  any  one  doubts,  let  him  personally  examine,  for  the  visitor 
is  always  welcome.  In  view  of  this  visible,  palpable,  undenia- 
ble good,  what  are  we  to  think  of  that  specimen  of  human 
nature  which  seeks  to  destroy  it  all,  by  destroying  him  by 
whose  instrumentality  it  is  effected'?  Must  it  not  be  more 
than  ordinarily  depraved  %  If  indeed  it  acts  with  reflection  at 
all,  must  it  not  be  absolutely  diabolical  %  Even  meeting  it  on 
its  own  ground,  even  supposing  that  the  Missionary  is  not  a 
good  man,  is  that  any  reason  for  hostility  to  his  enterprise, 
which  it  dffrst  not  deny  is  good  %  The  atheist,  who,  not  content 
with  disbelieving  himself,  labors  to  destroy  the  faith  which 
works  such  good  in  others  and  yet  harms  him  not,  is  deemed  a 
wretch  ; — and  yet  wherein  does  his  disposition  differ  from  that 
of  the  man  who  would  crush  a  good  thing  because  he  is  not 


'24 


FACTS  RELATING  TO  THE 


satisfied  with  its  author  •  who  would  prevent  devils  from  being 
cast  out  because  he  has  some  doubt  about  the  personal  merits 
of  the  exorcist  ?  Mr.  Pease's  account  books  are  open  for 
universal  inspection  ;  he  sends  a  list  of  his  weekly  receipts  and 
contributions  to  all  of  the  principal  newspapers  of  the  city  ;  his 
accounts  are  regularly  audited  by  a  board  of  directors  above 
suspicion,  and  are  published  in  a  periodical  report  to  the  public. 
But  if  all  this  does  not  afford  the  Missionary's  accusers  sufficient 
satisfaction,  let  them,  in  view  of  the  incontestible  good  that  is 
accomplished,  for  very  shame's  sake  keep  silence. 

We  do  not  mean  that  these  remarks  shall  be  applied  to  any 
of  the  persons  directly  connected  with  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Mission  of  the  Five  Points,  for  we  would  not  willingly  impair 
their  usefulness.  The  spirit  of  many  of  their  communications 
to  the  public  we  cannot  but  deeply  regret ;  and  are  especially 
Borry  to  see  it  as  exhibited  in  a  certain  Methodist  Episcopal 
newspaper  friendly  to  their  enterprise,  and  also  in  an  other- 
wise excellent  book  just  issued  under  their  auspices.  Yet  we 
do  not  attribute  it  to  positive  malignity,  but  to  that  illiberality 
of  feeling  which  successful  competition  in  even  good  works  too 
often  produces.  Each  of  the  institutions  at  the  Five  Points  is 
worthy  of  public  confidence  and  support,  and  both  together  are 
inadequate  to  the  immensity  of  the  great  moral  work  which  is 
to  be  accomplished.  They  differ  somewhat  in  character  and  in 
their  mode  of  operation.  The  one  was  established  by.  and  is 
under  the  direction  o£  a  particular  religious  denomination  ;  the 
other  is  managed  by  a  board  made  up  of  various  denominations 
and  is  planned  on  the  very  broadest  principles  of  benevolence. 
The  one  makes  moral  and  religious  instruction  its  principal 
feature ;  the  other,  while  attaching  perhaps  quite  as  much 
absolute  consequence  to  this,  yet  gives  material  well-being  a 
larger  proportionate  importance,  and  makes  the  workshop  an 
indispensable  adjunct  of  the  chapel.  The  one  believes  it  the 
wiser  policy  to  accomplish  the  whole  work  of  reform  on  its 
subjects,  at  the  Five  Points,  and  to  keep  them  there  after 
reformation,  to  exert  a  favorable  influence  upon  the  rest ;  the 
other  believes  that  reformation  would  be  greatly  facilitated, 
and  when  once  effected,  would  be  made  much  mora  secure  De- 
colonization in  the  country,  and  accordingly  attaches  particular 
importance  to  its  country  department,  which  it  is  now  laboring 
to  establish  on  a  permanent  basis.  Now.  surely,  these  are  not 
differences  to  be  regretted,  far  less  to  be  quarrelled  about. 


FIVE  POINTS  HOUSE  OF  INDUSTRY. 


25 


They  are  great  enough  to  afford  benevolent  men  of  diverse 
judgments  an  opportunity  to  do  good  in  this  field,  each  in  their 
own  way,  and  yet  are  not  great  enough  to  justify  the  least 
possible  degree  of  mutual  jealousy  and  ill-will.  Applications 
for  the  incorporation  of  both  are  now  before  the  Legislature, 
and  every  true  philanthropist,  instead  of  desiring  the  failure  of 
either,  will  rejoice  at  the  passage  of  acts,  which  will  perpetuate 
the  local  habitation  and  name  of  both.  We  do  most  sincerely 
trust  that  these  bickerings  about  the  past  will  cease.  If  there 
have  been  misapprehensions,  let  them  drop  ;  if  there  have  been 
errors,  let  them  be  forgotten.  The  work  which  is  now  going 
on  among  the  wretched  children  of  penury  and  wretchedness  at 
the  Five  Points  is  a  true  work ;  and  let  all  true  men  stand  by 
it.  Let  the  man  or  the  woman  who  publicly  speaks  evil  of 
either  branch  of  it  without  the  most  irrefragable  proof,  be  an 
object  of  public  scorn  ;  and  let  the  same  measure  of  scorn  be 
dealt  out  to  the  public  journalist  who  gives  currency  to  the 
obloquy.  Justice  to  the  missionaries,  who  are  toiling  on  in 
the  most  repulsive  and  difficult  and  abandoned  of  all  fields — 
with  a  violence  to  every  natural  sensibility  and  at  the  cost  of 
every  earthly  pleasure  but  the  satisfaction  of  doing  good — 
requires  this.  The  public  interests,  which  can  only  be  protected 
from  the  increasing  inroads  of  pauperism,  vice  and  crime  by 
such  barriers  as  are  erected  at  the  very  starting  place  by  these 
self-denying  workers — require  it.  And  it  is  required  by  a 
regard  for  those  wretched  children  who,  at  the  very  beginning 
of  existence,  have  been  thrown  without  fault  of  theirs  into  that 
path  which  conducts  through  darkness  and  wickedness  all  the 
way  through  life,  and  terminates  in  ruin.  There  are  four 
bidders  for  these  children  already  : 

"  We  bid,"  say  Pest  and  Famine, 

"  We  bid  for  life  and  limb ; 
Fever  and  pain  and  squalor 

Their  bright  young  eyes  shall  dim. 
When  children  grow  too  many 

We'll  nurse  them  as  our  own, 
And  hide  them  in  secret  places 

Where  none  may  hear  them  moan." 

"  I  bid"  said  Beggary  howling ; 

"  I'll  buy  them,  one  and  all, 
I'll  teach  them  a  thousand  lessons — 

To  lie,  to  skulk,  to  crawl ; 


2G 


FACTS  RELATING!   TO  THE 


They  shall  sleep  iu  my  lair  like  maggots, 

They  shall  rot  iu  the  fair  sunslrine ; 
And  if  they  serve  my  purpose 

I  hope  they'll  answer  thine." 

"  And  I'll  bid  higher  and  higher ;'' 

Said  Crime  with  a  wolfish  grin, 
"  For  I  love  to  lead  the  children 

Through  the  pleasant  paths  of  sin. 
They  shall  swarm  in  the  streets  to  pilfer ; 

They  shall  plague  the  broad  highway, 
Till  they  grow  too  old  for  pity, 

And  ripe  for  the  law  to  slay." 

As  if  these  four  claimants  were  not  enough,  a  fifth  "  whose 
edge  is  sharper  than  the  sword — whose  tongue  out- venoms  all 
the  worms  of  Nile"  has  made  its  appearance.  Its  name  is 
Slander.  Shall  this  new  harpy  prevail,  even  just  as  the  public 
purpose  is  set  to  foil  the  others  ? 


THE  ASSAULT. 

[The  following  article  is  the  second  of  the  two  attacks  made 
through  the  N.  Y.  Express,  under  the  same  signature.  The 
substance  of  the  first  is  quoted  in  the  answer  made  by  Mr. 
Eells,  in  the  former  part  of  this  pamphlet.  This  second  article 
also  contains  the  substance  of  the  first,  with  the  addition  of  an 
elaborate  and  combined  effort  by  all  its  friends  to  sustain  its 
charges  with  proof.  The  total  outcome  of  their  enterprise  will 
therefore  be  seen  in  this  article.  According  to  the  statement 
of  the  editor  of  the  Express,  (Hon.  James  Brooks,)  on  the  con- 
tradiction of  the  charges  made  in  the  first  article,  he  required 
from  the  '  respectable '  parties  who  had  endorsed  it  to  him,  and 
thereby  induced  him  to  publish  it,  the  fullest  proof  of  the 
charges  made.  They  assured  him  that  it  should  be  furnished ; 
and  after  about  two  weeks  of  preparation,  they  appeared  before 
the  public  by  the  same  instrument  as  before,  with  the  follow- 
ing production.    If  it  is  supposed  by  the  reader  to  require  any 


FIVE   POINTS   HOUSE   OF  INDUSTRY. 


27 


stronger  confutation  than  it  carries  on  its  face,  the  article  on 
page  1G,  from  the  Courier  and  Enquirer,  headed  "The  Persecu- 
tion of  Mr.  Pease,"  may  be  referred  to.] 

LIFE  AT  THE  FIVE  POINTS. 

THE  MISSIONARY'S  ANSWER. 
To  Mr.  Pease  of  the  Five  Points  House  of  Industry  : 

Sie  :  —  I  have  read,  with  great  attention,  the  letter  of  Mr.  Eells,  in 
reply  to  my  recent  article  on  Life  at  the  Five  Points.  I  do  not  doubt  his 
sincerity.  I  decline,  however,  to  address  my  reply  to  him,  or  to  regard 
him  as  the  author  of  the  article  to  which,  unhappily  for  his  reputation,  he 
has  affixed  his  name,  I  will  tell  you  why. 

One  Sunday  afternoon,  in  the  autumn  of  1850,  you  invited  certain 
individuals,  (whose  affidavits  I  can  procure)  into  your  parlor.  Mr.  Eells 
at  that  moment  was  addressing  the  children.  "  Mr.  Pease,"  said  one  of 
your  guests,  "why  do  you  not  get  a  more  interesting  speaker  to  talk 
to  the  children  ?  Mr.  E.  is  very  tedious."  "  I  know  he  is,"  you  answered, 
"  But  he  is  good-hearted.  He  does  not  know  much  ;  but  he  likes  to  talk ; 
and  I  can  use  him  —  so  I  let  him  talk." 

Mr.  Eells  refers  to  his  Diary.  An  editor  (whose  affidavit  I  can  procure) 
once  asked  you  to  obtain  it  for  him  in  order  that  he  might  publish  some 
extracts  from  it.  "  Oh ! "  you  answered  with  a  laugh,  "  you  can't  tell 
much  from  that.  He  is  a  very  visionary  man."  You  frequently  made 
the  same  remark  to  Councilman  North. 

I  would  not  have  published  these,  your  harsh  criticisms,  Mr.  Pease,  if  you 
had  denied  my  charges  in  your  own  name ;  or  if  you  had  never  attempted 
to  deceive — to  "  use" — me,  as  perhaps  you  are  using  Mr.  Eells.  I  will  spare 
a  gentleman  of  whose  character  I  know  nothing  derogatory.  You  have 
endorsed  his  letter  by  denying  before  witnesses  the  truth  of  my  assertions. 
You  must  have  furnished  him  with  several  of  the  statements  he  so  humor- 
ously designates  facts.  You  must  have  seen  his  letter  in  manuscript 
— just  as  you  saw  the  manuscript  of  that  article  in  which  I  slandered  a 
philanthropic  society  by  advancing  as  a  fact  a  falsehood  that  I  received 
from  the  lips  of  Lewis  M.  Pease.  Permit  me,  publicly,  to  recall  to  your 
recollection  your  conduct  toward  me  at  that  time. 

In  company  with  "  the  Emigrant "  of  the  Tribune  I  first  visited  your 
"  House."  For  several  weeks  afterwards  I  was  a  constant  contributor  to 
the  crowd  of  visitors  by  whom  you  are  always  surrounded.  I  told  you 
the  object  of  my  visits.  I  was  desirous  of  obtaining  facts  on  the  condition 
of  the  outcast  poor.  You  gave  me  a  history  of  your  life  and  labors.  You 
spoke  of  another  society — a  sermon  and  tract  affair  —  at  the  Five  Points. 
I  published  an  appeal  in  behalf  of  the  poor ;  I  ridiculed  the  ladies  whom 
you  represented  as  benevolent  bigots ;  I  eulogized  you  because  I  regarded 
you  as  the  Heaven-missioned  prophet  of  the  friend-forsaken.  I  continued 
my  visits  daily,  and  daily  did  I  feel  my  admiration  going  out  of  me. 

You  contradicted  yourself  in  trifling  matters  so  very  frequently  that  a 
doubt  of  your  veracity  was  rapidly  developed.    Shortly  after  the  publica- 


28 


FACTS  RELATING  TO  THE 


tion  of  the  appeal  alluded  to  in  the  Journal  of  Commerce,  I  "was  informed 
that  one,  at  least,  of  its  statements  was  a  falsehood.  I  was  referred  by  the 
gentleman  who  told  me  so  to  the  ladies  of  the  Five  Points  Mission.  A 
repuguance  to  have  any  dealings  with  bigots  of  any  description,  and 
especially  with  people  who  pretend  to  be  religious,  give  bibles  instead  of 
bread  to  the  hungry,  prevented  me  from  makiug  any  inquiry  as  to  the 
truth  of  my  first  statements  for  some  time  after  they  were  contradicted. 
Meauwhile,  from  personal  observation,  I  had  lost  all  confidence  in  your 
Institution. 

In  the  course  of  a  professional  engagement  I  made  the  acquaintance  of 
numbers  of  good  men  who  had  labored  with  you,  but  who  from  causes, 
had  no  longer  any  confidence  in  the  Superintendent  of  the  House  of 
Industry.  Then,  and  not  till  then,  did  I  determine  to  visit  the  members 
of  the  Ladies'  Home  Mission.  I  found,  not  tract-distributing  bigots,  but 
true  philanthropists,  who  gave  of  their  abundance  to  the  needy,  whose 
time  was  the  portion  of  the  poor,  who  had  spent  not  three  years  only,  but 
their  whole  life  in  ameliorating  the  condition  of  the  indigent.  Yet  of  these 
ladies  I  had  said,  and  many  other  writers  had  said,  that,  when  asked  for 
bread,  they  gave  a  tract.  Lewis  M.  Pease  !  from  your  own  lips  these 
untruths  originally  proceeded.  You  have  never  had  the  manliness  to 
make  such  charges  under  your  own  signature.  Your  dupes  assail  others ; 
your  friends  defend  yourself.  This  subterfuge  must  now  be  denied  to  you. 
The  cause  of  truth,  of  justice,  and  of  the  "  Outcast  Poor"  demands  it. 

As  soon  as  I  discovered  your  duplicity,  I  determined  to  expose  it  —  to 
compel  you  to  fall  into  the  pit  you  had  dug  for  others.  I  collected  from 
various  sources  evidences  of  your  philanthropy  !  I  ceased  visiting  philan- 
thropic institutions.  The  greatest  benefit  I  thought,  that  could  be  rendered 
to  the  poor,  was  to  destroy  their  pretended  friend.  The  most  acceptable 
sacrifice,  I  thought,  that  could  be  offered  up  to  the  Genius  of  Benevolence, 
would  be  a  pseudo-philanthropist. 

You  tried  to  prevent  me  from  being  heard.  You  succeeded  for  a  time. 
Conscious  that  an  opportunity  would  offer  ere  long,  I  employed  my  leisure 
time  in  gathering  additional  evidence  of  the  real  object  of  your  "  plan  for 
elevating  the  down-trodden."  I  thank  you  for  enabling  me  to  complete  my 
evidence  before  opening  the  case. 

Your  parasites  have  charged  me  with  having  been  hired  by  the  ladies 
of  the  Five  Points  Mission  to  ruin  the  House  of  Industry.  Is  that  your 
answer  to  my  charges  ?  Listen,  then,  to  mine.  I  have  not  received  one 
cent,  nor  the  promise  of  money,  nor  of  any  other  recompense  from  the 
ladies  of  the  Five  Points  Mission,  nor  from  any  other  society,  nor  from  any 
person,  for  any  such  purpose.  I  have  obtained  facts  from  the  ladies  as 
from  others ;  tut  they  neither  asked  me  to  begin  the  assault,  nor  desired 
me  to  continue  it.  They  disapprove  my  spirit  —  but  they  endorse  my 
statements.  I  have  spared  neither  trouble  nor  time  to  teach  you  the 
impolicy  of  trifling  with  a  man  who  was  earnest  in  his  endeavors  to  aid 
the  indigent  by  assisting  you.  I  have  thoroughly  investigated  your 
history  ;  and  be  assured  that  no  fear  of  your  fame,  and  that  none  of  the 
foolish  legal  threats  of  your  friends  will  intimidate  me  from  publishing 
and  publicly  proving  whatever  I  have  ascertained  about  your  conduct 
both  towards  philanthropists  and  towards  the  inmates  of  your  institution. 

Enough  of  personalities.    Let  U9  p"oceed  to  analyze  your  answer 


FIVE   POINTS  HOUSE   OF  INDUSTRY". 


29 


I.  THE  SAND  STREET  CHURCH  DONATION. 

Your  friend  says  that  this  donation  (of  about  £50)  was  given  to  Mr. 
Pease  for  ''the  Home;"  and  not,  as  I  stated,  for  the  Ladies' Mission.  He 
advances  this  assertion  very  boldly.  For  his  especial  benefit  I  will  copy 
two  lines  from  an  extract  from  the  books  of  the  Sand-street  Juvenile  Mis- 
sionary Society,  which  was  furnished  by  Mr.  W.  Saudford,  its  treasurer : 

March      1551,  paid  to  the  Five  Points  .Missionary  Society,  S50 

May  11,  1S51,          do.  do.  do.    5 

Tou  are  aware,  Mr.  Pease,  that  neither  of  these  sums  were  ever  received 
by  the  Ladies'  Board. 

II.  The  donation  from  the  Southern  gentleman,  you  say.  was  not  given 
to  the  "  Ladies'  Mission,"  but  to  the  "  Home."  The  donation  alluded  to, 
was  presented  in  July,  1850*  within  two  months  after  your  appoiutmeut 
by  the  ladies,  and  long  before  you  had  ever  mentioned  your  plan  for  the 
establishment  of  a  Home.  By  consulting  the  books  of  the  secretary  of 
the  Ladies'  Mission,  which  are  open  to  the  inspection  of  the  friends  of  the 
Superintendent  of  the  House  of  Industry,  under  the  date  of  March  4, 1S51, 
you  will  find  the  first  record  of  your  plan  for  a  Home,  which  was  not 
established  for  several  months  afterwards. 

III.  The  Jenny  Lind  Donation  of  $200,  I  stated  was  given  to  Mr. 
Pease  as  the  agent  of  the  Laches'  Mission.  Your  friend  denies,  with 
rather  egotistic  emphasis,  that  this  money  was  given  to  you  as  an  agent  of 
their  society,  and  says  that  it,  too,  was  intended  as  a  homeward-bound 
donation.  He  quotes  a  letter  from  Mr.  Jay,  whom  he  designates  Jenny 
Linds  organ,  which  was  addressed.  I  observed  with  some  surprise,  to  Rev. 
L.  M.  Pease,  not  as  the  superintendent  of  the  Home,  but  as  the  "  President 
of  the  Temperance  Association."  On  asking  for  an  explanation  of  this 
circumstance  from  an  individual  who  at  that  time  was  a  co-laborer  in  the 
cause  of  the  outcast  poor  at  the  Five  Points,  I  was  furnished  with 
the  following  statement  from  the  second  directress  of  the  Ladies'  Home 
Mission,  to  which,  especially  to  the  sentences  I  have  italicised,  I  request 
the  attention  of  every  reader  to  Mr.  Eells'  reply  : 

STATEMENT  OF  THE  SECOND  DIRECTRESS. 
t;  After  Jenny  Lind's  first  philanthropic  distribution  of  her  money,  it  •was  suggested 
in  the  Board  of  the  Ladies;  Home  Mission  that  something  might  be  obtained  for  this 
Mission.  Mr.  Pease,  who  -was  their  agent,  expressed  his  willingness  to  wait  upon  her 
and  make  the  request.  The  Board,  however*,  passed  no  resolution  on  the  subject. 
Some  time  afterwards,  the  Board  saw  in  the  public  prints  the  announcement 
of  an  appropriation  of  $200  from  Jenny  Lind  to  the  ;  Five  Points  Temperance 
Association.  L.  M.  Pease,  President!"  They  spoke  to  Mr.  Pease  at  the  next  meet- 
ing of  the  Board,  when  he  told  them  'it  teas  given  for  his  ovn  personal  distribution? 
that  he  proposed  to  take  three  or  four  girls  and  appropriate  this  money  towards 
their  education.1'  No  account  of  the  expenditure  of  that  appropriation  has  ever  been 
rendered.  One  person  spoke  to  him  about  it.  he  replied.  u  /  received  it  in  my  own  name 
and  have  a  right  to  dispose  of  it  as  I  like."  There  was  no  Temperance  .Association  at 
the  Five  Points  at  that  time,  but  that  of  the  .Mission,  of  which  he  was.  ex-omcio.  the 
President.  This  society  had  been  founded  by  him  in  pursuance  of  directions  from 
the  Board.  It  is  the  duty  of  all  our  missionaries  to  promote  the  temperance  cause,  it 
being  an  important  part  of  mission  work.  Notwithstanding  this  Temperance  Society 
required  but  a  small  amount  of  funds  to  carry  on  its  work.  yet.  if  Mr.  Pease  had 
accounted  for  the  money,  or  shown  the  recipients  of  the  donation,  the  Board  would 
have  been  satisfied.  But  the  Board  never  received  one  written  statement  during  the 
entire  year  he  was  the  agent  and  missionary  of  the  L.  H.  Mission.  He  had  been  published 
in  all  the  public  prints  as  the  accredited  agent,  and  all  moneys  and  donations  directed 
to  be  sent  to  him  —  yet  the  only  moneyed  transaction  between  Mr.  Pease  and  the  Board 
was  the  monthly  payment  of  his  salary,  and  the  only  money  he  ever  paid  into  the  Ejird 
cas  the  sum  of  two  dollars!" 


go 


FACTS  RELATING  TO  THE 


[The  statements  in  the  last  sentence,  may  or  may  not  have 

a  sort  of  literal  truth  : — but  in  the  connection  in  which  they  are 

placed,  they  convey  a  falsehood.    Mr.  Pease  was  required  by 

the  Society  to  collect  and  disburse  the  funds  for  the  Mission 

expenses,  and  of  course,  to  keep  the  accounts  himself.    He  kept 

them,  always  open  to  inspection,  and  to  the  full  satisfaction  of 

auditing  officers  and  committees,  as  shown  by  Mr.  Eells.  lie 

never  paid  the  Society  any  money,  for  the  sufficient  reason  that 

enough  M  as  never  paid  him  for  the  support  of  their  mission 

(the  spiritual  work — the  only  thing  they  acknowledged  any 

responsibility  for)  to  defray  its  expenses, — much  less,  to  leave 

a  balance  in  their  favor.    This*  the  accounts,  about  to  be 

published  in  full,  will  clearly  show.    The  $2  mentioned,  were 

paid  over  of  course,  being  sent  to  the  Society,  by  Mrs.  Drew 

of  Brooklyn,  as  her  fee  for  membership. — Ed.] 

IV.  The  Benefit  Lecture  ok  Mr.  Gough. —  "You  received  several 
hundred  dollars  from  a  lecture  by  Mr.  Gough,  by  acting  as  the  agent  of  the 
Ladies'  Mission.  That  amount  you  never  surrendered."  This  charge,  also, 
your  friend  denies,  by  stating  that  the  orator  lectured  for  the  Home,  and 
not  for  the  Mission,  by  whom  you  were  at  that  time  employed,  and  by 
advancing  a  few  assertions  that  he  most  erroneously  supposed  to  be  "  the 
facts"  of  the  case.  I  have  in  my  possession,  and  have  exhibited  to 
the  editor  of  the  Express,  a  ticket  endorsed  by  the  written  signaUire  of  "  L. 
M.  Pease,"  of  which  the  following  is  an  exact  transcript : 

"John  B.  Gough's  Farewell  Lecture  for  the  Benefit  of  the  Five  Points  Mission,  at 
the  Broadway  Tabernacle,  on  Friday  evening,  Jan.  17th,  1S51.  Admittance,  25c 
Doors  open,  5cc.  "  L.  M.  Pease/' 

Is  it  not  cruel,  Mr.  Pease,  to  refute  the  statements  of  your  friend,  by  the 
written  signature  of  "  the  subject  of  his  communication  ? "  Is  this  the 
mode  in  which  you  do  unto  others  as  ye  would  that  others  should  do 
unto  you  ? 

For  the  private  perusal  of  Mr.  Eells,  I  will  publish  yet  another  answer 
to  his  reply  to  this  charge  : 

Mr.  Eells  states  that  the  money  collected  at  the  lecture  by  Gough,  was 
placed  in  the  hands  of  C.  C.  Leigh,  for  the  benefit  of  the  "House"  and  then 
he  refers  the  reader  to  that  gentleman  to  corroborate  his  assertion.  In 
the  books  kept  by  C.  C.  Leigh,  among  other  entries,  is  one  which  announces 
that  $100  had  been  paid  to  Mr.  Pease  for  ihe  Five  Points  Jfission !  The 
Five  Points  Mission,  however,  never  received  even  one  dollar  of  that 
amount.  For  his  own  sake,  Mr.  Pease,  you  ought  to  advise  your  friend  to 
be  more  cautious  in  giving  references. 

Before  the  lecture  was  delivered  Mr.  Pease  stated  to  the  Board  —  and 
the  tickets  told  the  same  story  —  that  it  was  for  the  benefit  of  the  Ladies' 
Home  Mission.    After  its  delivery,  it  appeared  that  a  mistake  had  been 


FIVE  POINTS  HOUSE   OF  INDUSTRY. 


31 


made,  and  the  ladies  who  had  sold  tickets  were  obliged  to  give  the  money 
they  had  received  for  them  to  Mr.  Pease.  They  were  dissatisfied  with 
this  philanthropic  conduct ;  but  it  was  not  until  Mr.  Gough  declined  to  be 
introduced  to  several  of  them,  that  they  discovered  that  he,  too,  was 
dissatisfied  with  them.  He  said  he  had  lectured  for  their  benefit ;  they 
said  they  had  not  received  one  shilling  of  the  proceeds  of  his  lecture.  Mr. 
Eells  says  that  Mr.  Gough  had  lectured  for  the  house  of  Mr.  Pease ; 
Mr.  Pease,  on  the  other  baud,  shows  that  Mr.  Gough  lectured  "  for  the  bene- 
fit of  the  Five  Points  Mission."  Mr.  Eells,  although  his  friend  acknowl- 
edges that  the  Gough  money  was  intended  for  the  F.  P.  Mission,  asserts 
that  he  spent  it  for  the  benefit  of  the  Industrial  House. 

mr.  Randall's  statement. 
A  few  days  before  Mr.  Gough's  lecture  (in  Jan.  1,  1851,)  I  went  with  one  of  the 
directresses  of  the  L.  H.  Mission  to  the  Five  Points.  She  remarked  to  me  that  as  she  had 
reason  to  doubt  Mr.  Pease's  integrity,  she  would  ask  him,  in  my  presence,  about  the 
lecture.  She  said  to  Mr.  Pease  :  •'  Is  this  lecture  for  the  benefit  of  the  Five  Points 
Mission,  Mr.  Pease  ?  "  He  replied  that  it  was.  After  some  further  conversation  the 
question  was  repeated,  and  Mr.  Pease  replied,  pointing  at  the  same  time  to  the  admis- 
sion tickets  and  reading  from  it,  "  Don't  ye  see  —  For  the  Benefit  of  the  Five  Points 
Mission  ?  "  Thus  placing  beyond  all  doubt  the  object  which  the  lecture  was  intended 
to  benefit.  D.  RANDALL,  Mercantile  Bank. 

Mr.  Eells  states  that  Rev.  Mr.  Dikeman  was  present  on  the  evening  when 
Mr.  Gough  offered  to  lecture  for  the  benefit  of  the  Home,  and  not  for  the 
benefit  of  the  Ladies'  Missiou.  Mr.  Dikeman,  however,  informed  me  that  Mr. 
Gough  lectured  for  the  Five  Points  Mission,  and  knew  Mr.  Pease  only  as  the 
agent  of  the  ladies.  He  states,  further,  that  he  explained  to  the  lecturer  the 
operations  of  the  Ladies'  Mission  ;  that  on  the  evening  referred  to  he  went 
down  to  the  Five  Points  expressly  for  the  purpose  of  enabling  Mr.  Gough 
to  see  evidences  of  their  success;  and  that  neither  he  nor  the  orator  were 
aware  of  the  existence  of  the  Home.  Yet  Mr.  Eells  says,  that  "  Mr. 
Gough  was  so  delighted  with  the  inmates  of  the  institution,  that  he  said  to 
Mr.  Pease,  Sir,  if  you  will  get  up  a  meeting  in  the  Tabernacle,  I  will  come 
and  speak." 

Again,  I  am  informed  by  Mrs.  W.  B.  Skidmore,  (135  Hudson-street,  St. 
John's  park,)  the  recording  secretary  of  the  Ladies'  Board,  at  that  time, 
that  "  after  the  meeting  at  the  Tabernacle,  at  which  Mr.  Gough  lectured 
for  the  Five  Points  Mission,  Mr.  Pease  eame  to  the  Board  and  stated  that 
Mr.  Gough  was  a  temperance  lecturer  and  would  not  lecture  for  any  other 
purpose ;  that  he  (Mr.  Pease)  was  personally  responsible  for  the  appro- 
priation of  the  money  for  that  purpose  ;  and  in  this  way  compelled  the 
Board  to  pay  the  amount  which  had  been  paid  to  them  from  the  sale 
of  tickets  over  to  him.  The  ladies  felt  indignant  at  this  treatment ;  but  it 
was  not  until  Mr.  Gough  returned  to  the  city,  and  made  the  remarks  which 
have  been  published  that  the  ladies  were  made  aware  of  all  the  deceptions 
that  had  been  practised." 

V.  He  has  never  yielded  up  his  books  or  accounts,  although  a  com- 
mittee of  gentlemen  was  appointed  to  receive  them  after  the  ladies  failed 
to  get  them. 

This  charge  had  reference  to  the  books  you  kept,  or  professed  to  keep, 
while  in  the  service  of  the  Ladies  Mission.  Your  friend,  whose  audacity 
in  replying  is  really  admirable,  denies  this  charge  also.  Let  him  read  the 
statement  of  the  committee  referred  to  and  learn  the  value  of  silence : 


32 


FACTS   RELATING   TO  THE 


"We.  the  undersigned,  -were  appointed  by  the  Ladies'  Home  Mission  to  obtain  the 
cash  books  and  accounts  which  Rev.  Lewis  M.  Pease  professed  to  keep  :  but.  although 
we  visited  Mr.  Pease,  for  that  purpose,  we  never  could  obtain  them. 

Xoaji  Woreal, 
Orlando  D.  McLaix." 

1  had  no  reference  in  that  charge  to  the  cash  books  he  kept  while  in  the 
service  of  the  National  Temperance  Society ;  but  as  Mr.  Eells  insists  on  its  ex- 
tension to  that  institution,  instead  of  objecting  I  shall  copy  a  statement  from 
one  of  its  officers — one  of  the  most  respected  and  influential  of  our  citizens : 

MR.  MASONS  STATEMENT. 

I  have  read  the  article.  "  Life  at  the  Five  Points,"  published  in  the  semi-weekly 
Express  of  January  17.  1  -.34.  and  so  fat  as  I  am  acquainted  with  the  facts  mentioned  in 
that  article,  they  are  correctly  stated.  During  Mr.  L.  M.  Pease's  connection  with  the 
National  Temperance  Society.  I  applied  to  him.  in  my  capacity  as  chairman  of 
the  •  Asylum  Committee."  to  submit  his  accounts  for  inspection.  He  positively 
reiused  to  do  so  :  knowing  that  it  was  the  chief  duty  of  that  committee  to  inspect  and 
report  upon  his  accounts.  Benjamin  Mason. 

January  20.  1;54. 

Mr.  Eells  refers  to  an  investigation  of  Mr.  Pease's  books  and  accounts  in 
the  Green-strtct  church.  I  am  informed  by  gentlemen  "who  were  p:  -srnt, 
that  wheu  Mr.  Pease  was  charged  with  immoral  conduct  on  that  occasion, 
his  financial  accounts  were  also  examined.  Of  course,  they  were  correct. 
But  what  did  that  prove  *  Exactly  nothing.  When  vouchers  are  not  pro- 
duced, it  is  a  mere  farce  to  exarniue  cash  books  and  pronounce  them 
to  be  satisfactory.  IVo  vouchers  were  given  on  that  occasion.  Neither 
you,  Mr.  Pease,  nor  your  friend  will  be  permitted  to  elude  the  charges  I 
have  published  in  this  manner.  You  are  aware  that  your  books  have 
never  been  yielded  up  to  or  examined  by  the  Ladies  of  the  Five  Points 
Mission,  or  the  committees  they  appointed  to  receive  them.  The  Green- 
street  investigation  was  a  private  church  affair ;  and.  knowing  this  fact  I 
confess  that  1  cannot  understand  what  Eells  intends  to  prove,  or  what  he 
means,  in  this,  the  last  sentence  in  his  reply  to  —  or.  rather,  remarks  on 
—  the  fourth  charge  that  he  culled  from  my  first  communication : 

"  At  this  investigation  the  Gough  affair  was  one  of  the  particular  subjects  inquired 
into,  and  it  was  decided  that  the  accounts  and  conduct  of  Mr.  Pease,  in  the  matter, 
were  correct .' " 

VI.  I  sa;d.  "The  ladies  did  not  apply  for  your  re-appointment  because 
they  bad  lost  all  confidence  in  your  assertions  and  financial  accounts." 
This  statement  you  well  know.  Mr.  Pease,  was  strictly  true.  "  Let  the 
ladit-s  answer  for  themselves  on  ihi?  point"  exclaims  brother  Eells.  "and 
inform  the  public  how  and  why  Mr.  Pease  came  to  be  transferred  from 
their  employment."  Certainly  I  will.  Mr.  Eells :  I  shall  publish  them.  I 
have  only  to  say  of  it  in  the  words  of  the  English  Diogenes  to  the  youth 
who  asked  him  for  his  autograph  :  ■  Here  it  is.  much  good  may  it  do  you :  * 
statement  of  the  lady  officers  of  the  home  arrssiox. 

January  25?  185-i. 

The  writer  quotes  from  the  Secretary's  Report  to  prove  that  the  separation  between  Mr. 
re-i*  ::.e  Eur:  an;.;-- :lr.    3u:  sr.cws  the  surer::  ml  view  tiken.  and 

his  entire  ignorance  of  the  movements  of  the  Board.  About  ten  months  had  passed 
away  since  the  mission  was  founded.  Conference  was  drawing  nigh,  and  the 
arrangements  for  the  coming  year  were  to  be  debated  and  resolved  upon.  The  ladies 
felt  that  they  could  not  retain  their  connection  with  Mr.  Pease.  The  confidence  of 
the  officers  was  utterly  destroyed,  and  that  of  the  Board  greatly  shaken.  These  senti- 
ments were  fully  made  known  to  the  authorities  of  the  church,  and  it  was  clearly 
understood  bv  the  Board  that  Mr.  Pease  was  not  to  be  returned  to  them.  Just  at 
.      feriae,  while  the  Board  felt  their  painful  situation  with  regard  to  Mr.  Pease,  the 


FIVE  POINTS  HOUSE  OF  INDUSTRY. 


o3 


National  Temperance  Society  desired  him  to  become  their  agent.  The  Board  gladly 
consented,  but  the  question  -was  discussed,  whether  they  had  a  moral  right  to  allow 
another  society  to  engage  Mr.  Pease,  without  stating  their  difficulties  wiih  him  during 
the  past  year.  The  ladies  fuliy  expressed  their  feelings  to  some  of  the  officers  of  the 
National  Temperance  Society.  They  said  in  reply,  "  Mr.  Pease  can  attend  to  the  work 
for  which  we  want  him.  As  lor  financial  matters,  it  is  quite  evident  that  he  has  taken 
advantage  of  ihe  La  he*'  Beard,  tut  he  will  not  dare  to  do  thus  with  gentlemen.  We 
will  hold  a  tight  rein  and  see  to  that/' 

With  this  understanding,  the  ladies  rejoiced  that  they  were  spared  the  pain  of  any 
public  difficulty  wiih  Mr.  Pease  :  and.  so  far  from  indulging  in  any  unkind  feelings 
towards  one  who  had  trifled  with  them  in  every  -xay.  gave  their  testimony  to  his 
enrrtrp,  the  only  point  to  which  they  could  yield  unqualified  praises.  And  it  was  not 
till  after  he  had  ceased  to  be  our  missionaiy  that  we  had  so  many  complaints  as  to  the 
funds  which  we  had  not  credited  in  our  Repcrt :  —  no  account  of  what  he  received  or 
disbursed  during  the  it  holt  year  was  given  us.  or  was  given  to  the  public.  (Signed) 
BT  THE  OFFICERS  OF  THE  LADIES'  HOME  MISSION. 

[The  names  can  be  seen  on  reference  to  the  organization  of  the  society,  which 
is  public] 

VII.  I  said.  "  I  am  assured  by  the  members  of  the  National  Temper- 
ance Societv  that  they  were  not  satisfied  with  Mr.  Peases  financial 
statements ;  that  from  this  cause  and  from  his  unveracitv  they  dissolved 
their  connection  with  him  before  the  time  for  which  he  was  engaged 
expired.7* 

-  I  understand,"'  says  your  friend,  "  that  the  records  of  the  National 
Temperance  Society  will  show  the  reverse  of  the  above  statements."'  I 
know,  however,  that  the  secretary  says  that  they  do  not  u  show  the  reverse 
of  the  above  statements." 

Mr.  Eells  refers  to  Mr.  Dikeman  (who  may  now  be  seen  daily  at  the 
Comptroller's  office.)  to  corroborate  his  statement  that  a  committee  of 
investigations,  of  whieh  Mr.  Dikeman  was  a  member,  after  "  a  searching 
investigation."  was  ■  unanimously  in  favor  of  Mr.  Pease  in  every  par- 
ticular." Mr.  Pease  waited  "on  Mr.  Dikeman  to  sign  such  a  statement,  bat 
he  firmly  refused  to  do  so.  Mr.  Pease,  on  the  examination  referred  to, 
produced  no  vouchers. 

Mr.  Eells  further  states  that  your  books  and  accounts  were  examined  by 
three  members,  and  found  correct,  (vouchers  included i)  and  then  adds: 

u  Others,  who  may  easily  be  referred  to.  were  members  of  the  Executive  Committee, 
and  will  fully  sustain  these  statements,  and  can  further  testify  of  their  own  knowledge 
that  the  separation  between  Mr.  Pease  and  the  society  was  brought  about  solely  by 
the  financial  inability  of  the  latter,  and  took  place  without  any  abatement  of  mutual 
conr.ience  ar.i  cordiality  tetweea       —  .  ' 

A  very  explicit  denial  of  this  charge  —  but  hardly  sustained.  I  think,  by 
the  other  officers,  a  who  may  easily  be  referred  to  !  " 

STATEMENT  OF  THE  OFFICERS  OF  THE  NATIONAL  TEMPERANCE  SOCIETY. 

To  the  Editors  of  the  Xew  Tori:  Express: 

Gentlemen  :  —  In  a  communication  in  your  paper  of  Friday  evenine.  relating  to  the 
Rev.  Mr.  Pea-=e.  signed  by  James  Redpath.  allusion  is  made  to  Mr.  Pease's  connection 
"  :r.e  National  Temperance  Society  as  being  unsatisfactory,  both  as  to  his  manage- 
ment of  finances  and  his  exaggerations  of  the  result  of  his  labors. 

As  the  officers  of  the  society  are  called  upon  by  Mr.  Redpath  to  substantiate  his 
declarations,  as  above  stated,  we  feel  it  incumbent  on  us  to  say  they  are  essentially 
true.  JOHN  FALCONER.  President. 

ISAAC  J.  OLIVER,  Vice  President. 

C.  C.  NORTH.  Chairman  Exec.  Com. 

J.  W.  OLIVER. 

JAMES  MACKEAN, 

LOUIS  B.  LODER. 
New  Tork,  Jan.  14.  ALBERT  GILBERT. 


34 


FACTS  RELATING  TO  THE 


Add  to  this  corroborative  testimony  the  statement  of  Mr.  Mason,  already 
quoted,  and  the  reply  of  Rev.  Mr.  Warren  : 

STATEMENT  OF  THE  SECRETARY  OF  THE  NATIONAL  TEMPERANCE  SOCIETY. 
"  I  have  seen  an  article  in  the  N.  Y.  Express,  signed  by  James  Redpath,  referring 
to  the  Secretary  of  the  National  Temperance  Society.    To  the  best  of  my  recollection, 
that  statement  is  strictly  true.  C.  J.  WARREN,  late  secretary." 

VIII.  The  member  referred  to  in  my  first  article  was  Mr.  J.  W.  Oliver, 
to  whom  Mr.  Pease  could  not  exhibit  a  single  convert,  even  after  he  had 
reported  six  hundred  cases  and  stated  that  he  could  point  out  ninety.  Mr. 
Eells  tries  to  elude  this  charge  by  referring  to  Mr.  Pease's  subsequent  con- 
verts, to  whom,  at  present,  I  do  not  allude.  When  the  proper  time  comes, 
Mr.  Eells  will  find  that  I  did  not  "forget  that,  &c"  I  have  not  yet 
exhibited  the  entertaining  panorama  of  "  persecution  "  at  the  Five  Points. 
Wait  a  little  longer,  Mr.  Eells. 

IX.  Your  friend's  answer  to  my  eighth  charge  is  merely  an  affirmation 
of  the  subject  in  dispute ;  and  like  the  Green-street  church  investigation 
(without  vouchers)  amounts  to  —  nothing. 

X.  Your  admission  and  palliation  of  the  ninth  charge  I  shall  afterwards 
examine. 

THE  WORKSHOP. 

Do  you  or  do  you  not,  Mr.  Pease,  affirm  that  the  workhouse,  as  it  existed 
at  the  period  J  alluded  to,  could  have  held  more  than  one  hundred  seam- 
stresses ?  You  know  how  it  was  seated  at  that  time  ;  you  know,  too,  that 
seamstresses,  when  engaged  at  their  work,  cannot  sit  so  closely  as  when 
listening  to  a  sermon.  You  know  that  the  altar  has  been  replaced  by  a 
gallery.  You  know  that  your  friends  reply  to  this  charge  is  clever, 
indeed,  but  rather  lacking  in  frankness.  Your  method  of  denying  what  I 
advanced  by  quoting  reports  whose  writers  you  furnish  with  assertions, 
resembles  the  Green-street  church  investigation  of  your  accounts  (without 
vouchers ;)  it  amounts  to  —  nothing.  For  Mr.  Eells'  consolation  I  asked  of 
the  secretary  a  statement  of  the  case,  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy  : 

THE  STATEMENT  OF  THE  SECRETARY  OF  THE  LADIES'  MISSION. 

January  5tk,  1854. 

The  writer  quotes  from  the  Secretary,  reports  respecting-  the  -work-room.  &c.  Mr. 
Pease  says  that  the  Society  opposed  the  work-room  entirely — would  have  nothing  to  do 
with  it,  ice,,  yet  Mr  Pease  came  to  the  Board  every  month,  and  reported  its  progress, 
relating  stories  and  incidents,  which  deeply  interested  the  Board,  who  did  not  generally 
visit  the  work-room  in  person,  and  therefore  received  all  their  impressions  from  Mr. 
Pease's  own  reports.  In  these  statements  truths  were  greatly  exaggerated,  causing 
those  Ladies  who  did  visit  the  Mission  sometimes  to  smile,  and  sometimes  to  be  indig- 
nant at  the  high  coloring  with  which  simple  facts  were  invested.  Yet,  as  they  could 
not  then  foresee  the  difficulties  of  the  future,  they  did  not  feel  called  upon  publicly  to 
contradict  a  missionary  who  must  be  connected  with  them  for  some  time,  and  thus 
destroy  all  his  influence,  and  injure  their  infant  mission.  ''  It  is  but  a  little  while" 
was  the  constant  remark,  and  as  no  personal  feelings  influenced  them,  fur  the  good  of 
the  mission,  they  were  silent. 

The  time  arrived  for  their  Annual  Report.  The  Secretary  who  wrote  it,  being  in  de- 
licate health,  only  visited  the  Mission  on  the  Sabbath,  had  never  seen  the  work-room, 
and  had,  therefore,  no  personal  knowledge  of  its  arrangements  and  numbers. 

From  Mr.  Pease's  own  reports  to  the  Board,  the  Secretary  had  written  an  account  of 
the  work-room,  which  was  published  in  the  "  Christian  Advocate."  But,  having  heard 
the  doubts  and  contradictions  of  those  who  were  in  the  habit  of  visiting  the  Mission, 
the  Report  was  prepared  with  a  single  and  guarded  reference  to  the  work-room.    It  was 


FIVE  POINTS  HOUSE  OF  INDUSTRY. 


35 


•  submitted  to  the  Board  and  objected  to  on  the  ground  that  it  was  not  a  full  report.  The 

work-room  the  Board  claimed  as  part  of  the  Mission,  and  insisted  that  the  account  should 
be  inserted.  It  was  argued  that  a  true  report  was  founded  on  the  monthly  report ;  that 
the  present  opinion  of  Mr.  Tease,  which  was  nearly  unanimous,  could  not  influence  the 
part  which  had  been  accepted  ;  and,  therefore,  the  accounts  must  be  inserted. 

Those  who  knew  the  true  facts  objected,  but  were  overruled  by  those  who  thought  it 
best  to  act  on  the  side  of  charity,  and  to  say  all  the  good  of  Mr.  Pease  thatcould  be  said. 
(The  most  careful  reader  of  the  Seventh  Annual  Report  will  see  how  studiously  every 
word  of  praise  is  worded,  except  that  bestowed  on  Mr.  Pease's  energy, — not  a  word  of 
his  spiritual  duties,  not  a  reference  to  aught  else  ;  but  how  in  the  spirit  of  that  ''charity 
which  beareth  all  things  and  hopeth  all  things/'  they  praised  where  they  could,  and 
were  silent  where  they  might  have  condemned).  The  Secretary  in  that  meeting  wrote 
on  the  margin  "  insert  the  account  of  the  work-room,"  which  was  done  to  the  deep  and 
lasting  regret  of  those  who  knew  the  number  and  statements  to  be  greatly  exaggerated. 

XII.  "  The  charge  of  profane  and  indecent  language."  You  accuse  me 
publicly  of  having  concocted  that  portion  of  my  letter.  Now,  sir,  you  ought 
to  beware  of  permitting  your  inexperienced  friend  to  advance  statements 
or  to  use  words  in  an  important  controversy  without  first  having  carefully 
weighed  them. 

A  lady  whose  name  I  enclose  and  the  daughter  of  Mr.  Noah  Worral, 
Mr.  0.  McClean,  Councilman  North,  Mr.  B.  Howe,  of  Kingsbridge,  and  one 
other — all  of  them  well-known  citizens  and  respected,  heard  you  utter  or 
acknowledge  that  you  used  the  language,  whether  it  be  profane  or  indecent, 
or  both,  or  neither,  that  I  attributed  to  you. 

And  yet,  notwithstanding  this  array  of  names  unimpeachable,  Mr.  Eells, 
who  was  not  present  when  you  used  the  words — at  least  at  that  time, — 
and  without  producing  a  solitary  witness,  has  the  audacity  to  affirm  that — 
u  The  circumstances  and  the  language  of  Mr.  Pease  on  the  occasion  referred  to  in  the 
charge  of  profane  and  abusive  language,  are  well  known  to  me  ;  and  if  I  could  think 
it  right  to  lower  myself  on  the  subject  of  communication  so  far  as  to  explore  the  calumny, 
it  would  appear  that  the  real  sentiments  and  expressions  of  Mr.  Pease,  were  as  unlike 
those  attributed  to  him  as  the  solemn  warnings  of  a  Christian  minister  are  to  the  blas- 
phemous ribaldry  concocted  and  gloated  over  by  the  authors  of  that  article." 

XIII.  You  state  that  Mr.  and  Mi  s.  Pease  have  jointly  signed  a  bond  to 
make  over  the  philanthropic  farm  to  a  Board  of  Directors  as  soon  as  a 
charter  can  be  obtained. 

Mr.  Pease's  real  character  is  at  present  a  subject  of  dispute.  Until  the 
opponents  of  Mr.  Pease  have  been  overcome,  will  he  place  that  bond  in  the 
possession  of  persons  whose  character  is  unimpeachable — in  Henry  Ward 
Beecher's,  for  example  ?  Paper,  perhaps  you  are  aware,  Mr.  Eells,  is  an  in- 
flammable substance,  and  farms,  on  the  contrary,  are  fire-proof. 

NO  PERQUISITES  ! 

The  last  paragraph  of  Eells's  letter  refers  to  my  insinuation  relative  to 
perquisites.  He  says,  (in  small  capitals,)  that  he  knows  that  Mr.  Pease  re- 
ceives none ;  and  then  reiterates  the  Hot  Corn  cant  about  "  perilous  expo- 
sure," et  ccetcra,  "  which  has  reduced  each  of  them  to  the  appearance  of  a 
meagre  shadow,  wan,  attenuated  and  sickly,  but  uncomplaining."  Now, 
Mr.  Eells,  if  you  will  go  among  the  authors,  editors,  actors,  or  artists  of 
New  York — if  you  will  associate  with  studious  men  of  any  profession,  you 
will  find  that  Mr.  Pease  looks,  and  is  healthier  and  more  vigorous  than  nine- 
tenths  of  them. 

Mr.  Pease,  previous  to  his  engagement  by  the  Ladies,  was  so  poor  that 
a  6Utn  of  money  to  pay  his  travelling  expenses  to  the  city,  had  to  be  ad- 
vanced to  him  by  a  member  of  the  Mission.    It  is  necessary  to  record  this 


FACTS  RELATING  TO  THE 


circumstance  in  order  to  demonstrate  that  he  had  no  pecuniary  resources 
when  he  arrived  in  New  York.  He  received  a  salary  of  $900,  which  I 
know  that  himself  and  friends  have  very  often  called  a  "  scanty  salary." 

In  the  Summer  or  the  Autumn  of  1S50  ;  after  he  had  been  an  inhabitant 
of  our  Island  City  for  six  or  eight  mouths  at  most ;  when  he  could  not  have 
received  more  than  £500  from  his  employers;  and  having,  of  course,  re- 
ceived no  perquisites,  but  instead  of  appropriating  the  donations  of  philan- 
thropists for  his  private  purposes,  had  put  his  hand  into  his  own  benevolent 
pocket — at  this  period  did  Lewis  M.  Pease,  whom  Little  Katy,  who  "  never 
was  born,"  loved;  "the  Heaven-missioned"  regenerator  of  the  Five  Points; 
the  Eminently  Endeared  to  the  friends  of  the  poor  of  our  metropolis — held 
a  conversation  with  a  clergyman,  of  which  a  record  fa  given  in  the  first  of 
the  two  following  statements.  How  any  man  out  of  £500  could  pay  his 
own  and  wife's  expenses,  give  money  to  the  poor,  and  save  $1000  is  to  me 
a  mystery.  I  freely  confess  that  I  cannot  do  so  myself — and  my  friends 
cannot ; 

STATEMENT  OK  REV.  MR.  WARREN. 

Sometime  in  the  Fall  or  "Winter  of  1850,  in  a  conversation  with  Mr.  Pease  about  the 
general  work  of  reform  at  the  Five  Points,  he  remarked  that  he  thought  of  taking  the 
whole  matter  out  of  the  hands  of  the  Ladies,  and  making  it  a  personal  concern.  He 
suggested  that  I  should  connect  myself  with  him  in  the  enterprise,  saying  that  he  had 
one  thousand  dollars  he  could  put  in,  and  it  could  be  made  to  pay. 

C.  J.  WARREN. 

STATEMENT  OF  REV.  MR.  II0WLAND. 

Sometime  in  the  Summer  of  1S52  [Mr.  Pease  ceased  to  be  the  Agent  of  the  Ladies' 
Mission  in  May,  1852.]  I  had  a  conversation  with  the  Rev.  L.  M.  Pease,  who  stated  that 
he  had  cleared,  above  all  expenses,  the  preceding  year,  J\'ine  Hundred  Dollars. 

S.  HOWL  AND. 

The  names  of  these  gentlemen  are  well  known  to  the  religious  classes 
of  our  citizens,  and  to  Mr.  Pease  himself.  He  dares  not  deny  their  veracity 
or  the  veracity  of  any  one  of  the  witnesses  who  has  given  testimony  as  to  the 
truth  of  every  assertion  I  have  advanced.  Unless,  Mr.  Pease,  you  can  prove 
that  these  gentlemen  and  ladies  are  unworthy  of  credence,  that,  in  fact,  their 
evidence  is  utterly  untrue,  and  these  articles  are  compilations  of  falsehoods, 
then,  do  you  stand  convicted  of  fraud  at  the  very  tribunal ;  that  of  the 
public  press  ;  to  which,  when  announcing  your  plan  for  a  Home,  you  said 
that  those  persons  who  were  dissatisfied  with  your  conduct  could  appeal. 

Every  reader  of  Mr.  Eells'  letter  is  aware  that  I  have  met  every 
"  fact"  and  argument  that  he  advanced.  Perfectly  convinced  that  I  am  in 
the  right,  I  am  prepared  to  reply  to  a  thousand  such  letters.  Mr.  Pease 
will  surely,  then,  excuse  my  anxiety  to  know  for  what  reason  his  friend 
left  two  of  my  charges  unnoticed  and  unanswered. 

I  said,  firstly,  that  whenever  Mr.  Pease  was  asked  by  the  ladies,  of 
whom  he  was  the  agent,  for  an  account  of  his  expenditures,  his  invariable 
answer  always  was — "Expended  for  the  good  of  the  Mission" — and  no 
more.  Secondly,  That  Mr.  Pease  never  raised  the  catch-word  of  Secta- 
rianism until  he  found  that  he  had  lost  the  confidence  not  of  the  Ladies 
only,  but  of  the  majority  of  the  Ministers  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal 
Church,  by  his  exaggerated  statements  and  immoral  conduct. 

Could  not  Mr.  Eells  explain  away  these  charges  ?  and  will  he  take  his 
oath  now  ?  I  remain,  Mr.  Pease,  vours  never. 

JAMES  REDPATH. 


FIVE  POINTS  HOUSE  OF  INDUSTRY. 


37 


THE  FIVE  POINTS  MISSION. 

THE  ATTACKS  ON  MR.  PEASE. 

From  the  New  York  Daily  Times,  February  2nd. 
A  journalist,  like  every  one  whose  duties  require  him  to 
watch  the  movements  of  the  day  and  the  developments  of 
character,  must  see  many  things  discreditable  to  human  nature, 
and  discouraging  to  those  who  labor  for  its  improvement.  He 
will  see  the  basest  passions  waging  war  upon  the  most  holy 
causes ;  he  will  see  malice,  cloaked  in  hypocrisy,  seeking  to 
murder  charity  ;  he  will  see  envy  hawking  at  benevolence,  and 
laboring  to  prevent  the  good  of  which  the  merit  and  applause 
are  to  fall  upon  others.  We  have  seen  nothing  of  this  kind, 
within  our  experience,  worse  than  the  crusade  which  is  now 
carried,  mainly  through  the  columns  of  the  Express,  against  the 
character  and  the  labors  of  Rev.  Mr.  Pease.  If  anything  on 
earth  could  escape  the  assaults  of  malignity,  it  would  seem  that 
such  a  work  as  his  might  be  exempt.  He  has  gone  into  the 
worst  and  most  degraded  portion  of  our  City — among  the  most 
friendless  and  hopeless  of  its  inhabitants — into  an  atmosphere 
reeking  with  physical  and  moral  pollution,  for  the  purpose  of 
planting  the  seeds  of  better  influences,  and  of  organizing  an 
effort  which  may  steadily,  even  if  slowly,  elevate  those  now 
deserted  creatures  to  the  level  of  humanity.  With  great 
sagacity,  and  still  greater  courage  and  energy,  he  places  him- 
self at  once  in  personal  relations  with  these  destitute  and  de- 
graded objects  of  his  care,  from  the  conviction  that  it  is  only 
thus  that  they  can  be  rendered  sensible  to  proper  influences  and 
brought  to  feel  their  connection  with  society,  and  the  advantages 
and  duties  which  it  involves.  He  lives  among  them — talks 
with  them — provides  them  with  work  and  with  food — treats 
them  as  members  of  his  family,  and  thus  endeavors  to  inspire 
them  with  confidence — to  awaken  in  their  hearts  a  response  to 
sympathy,  and  thus  to  start  them  in  a  career  of  industry  and 
of  respectability.  Is  there  anything  in  such  labors  to  excite 
jealousy  or  envy  ?  One  would  suppose  that  every  man  of 
ordinary  sensibility  would  look  with  admiration  on  the  heroism 
which  could  undertake  such  labors,  and  give  at  least  his  hearty 
prayers  for  their  success.  And  yet  Mr.  Pease  and  his  work 
are  made  the  object  of  as  fierce  and  relentless  a  warfare,  as  if 
they  sought  the  destruction  of  society  instead  of  its  advantage. 
This  of  itself  is  not  a  little  strange  : — but  it  is  still  stranger, 


38 


FACTS   RELATING  TO  THE 


that  we  should  be  compelled  to  seek  the  origin  of  this  hostility 
in  professed  religious  motives, — in  the  rivalry  of  another  benev- 
olent association.  The  articles  in  the  Express  assailing  Mr. 
Pease,  are  signed  by  James  Redpath, — who  is,  however, 
simply  the  tool  of  others  in  this  crusade.  He  seems  to  have 
exercised  a  good  deal  of  diligence  in  scouring  the  City  in  search 
of  facts  and  slanders  for  the  accomplishment  of  their  ends.  It 
is  fair,  perhaps,  to  award  him  also  the  credit  of  the  malignity 
by  which  they  are  made  cohesive.  But  beyond  this  he  is  merely 
used  by  parties  in  better  position  and  of  greater  prudence,  and 
who  have  something  to  lose  in  public  esteem  by  appearing  as 
the  open  assailants  of  such  a  cause.       *        *        *  * 

Intimations  are  thrown  out  that  Mr.  Pease  has  engaged  in 
this  enterprise,  not  from  motives  of  benevolence,  but  for  his  own 
emolument  Mysterious  stress  is  laid  upon  the  fact  that  he  did 
not  submit  to  the  ladies  of  the  Mission  the  accounts  of  his  ex- 
penditures. Testimony  has  been  hunted  up  to  show  that  he 
once  said  he  had  a  thousand  dollars,  which  he  would  be  glad  to 
use,  in  connection  with  others,  in  a  scheme  of  reform,  and 
that  he  had  saved  $900  in  one  year.  And  hints  are  thrown  out 
that  he  appropriates  to  his  own  use  the  donations  given  in  aid 
of  his  enterprise.  All  this  is  too  paltry  and  contemptible  for 
anybody  but  Mr.  Redpath  to  put  before  the  public.  Mr. 
Pease  is  a  man  of  energy,  tact,  and  great  business  ability  ; — 
one  who  would  not  be  likely  to  abandon  all  the  usual  means 
of  acquiring  wealth,  and  devote  himself  to  such  a  work  as  that 
in  which  he  is  now  engaged,  if  his  motives  were  selfish  and 
sordid.  But  his  slanderers  are  careful  to  conceal  the  fact  that 
all  his  operations  are  carried  on  under  the  supervision  of  a 
Board  of  Directors, — that  all  his  accounts  are  examined  by 
them,  and  that  they  have  repeatedly  certified  to  their  correct- 
ness as  well  as  to  his  integrity,  and  to  the  immense  utility  of 
the  work  in  which  he  is  engaged.  This  must  satisfy  any  reason- 
able man, — not  governed  by  sectarian  prejudices,  or  determined 
always  to  believe  the  worst  that  can  be  said  of  his  fellow-men. 

In  another  column  will  be  found  a  plain,  dispassionate  state- 
ment, by  Mr.  John  Stephenson,  one  of  our  most  respectable 
citizens,  who  has  taken  pains  to  inform  himself  of  the  precise 
truth  in  regard  to  this  matter,  and  who  places  it  in  what  we 
have  no  doubt  is  its  true  light  before  the  public.  He  is  a 
prominent  member  of  the  Methodist  Church,  and  not  likely  to  be 
prejudiced  against  the  Ladies'  Mission,  or  in  favor  of  Mr.  Pease. 


FIVE  POINTS  HOUSE   OF  INDUSTRY. 


39 


[The  same,  February  Wth.] 
And  now  we  should  be  glad  to  see  the  parties  engaged  in  tins 
Ladies'  Mission,  and  their  friends,  reserve  the  energies  they 
have  expended  in  quarreling  with  Mr.  Pease  for  a  more  vigorous 
prosecution  of  their  own  plans  of  Christian  benevolence.  The 
Ladies  of  the  Board  think  proper  to  sneer  at  our  expressed  ap- 
probation of  their  labors  ;  they  speak  of  us  as  "  condescending" 
to  commend  them.  We  are  not  aware  of  any  such  feeling  in 
regard  to  them.  They  apparently  desire  to  be  especially  ex- 
clusive, and  to  have  no  support  or  favor  from  anybody  who  is 
not  prepared  to  join  them  in  their  belligerent,  as  well  as  their 
benevolent,  crusades.  They  wish  no  connection  of  any  sort 
with  anybody,  who  has  anything  to  do  with,  or  for,  the  "  con- 
cern over  the  way."  We  are  not  sure  that  we  can  sacrifice  our 
own  convictions  of  justice  so  far  as  to  gratify  them  in  this  par- 
ticular. We  are  inclined  to  urge  their  enterprise  upon  public 
favor, — to  commend  them  to  public  confidence,  and  to  ask  on 
their  behalf  the  contributions  of  the  benevolent,  because  we  be- 
lieve they  deserve  them.  We  are  not  only  willing,  but  deter- 
mined, to  aid  them  in  all  their  enterprises,  except  their  crusade 
against  Mr.  Pease.  If  they  are  resolved  to  repel  any  such 
'■  half-faced  fellowship" — to  decline  all  alliances  not  offensive, 
as  well  as  defensive,  we  cannot  help  it.  They  must  seek  such 
elsewhere.  We  shall  continue  to  aid  all  those  objects  which 
seem  to  us  worthy  of  public  confidence  and  sympathy,  and  no 
others. 


"WILD  MAGGIE." 

The  agents  of  the  Institution  which  has  unhappily  been  led 
to  place  itself  in  an  attitude  of  rivalry  and  opposition  to  the 
House  of  Industry,  having  failed  in  a  system  of  extraordinary 
measures  to  entice  away  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  popu- 
lar trophies  of  the  success  of  Mr.  Pease's  system  of  benevolence. 
— the  child  sometimes  called  "  Wild  Maggie  " — next  resorted 

DO 

to  the  plan  of  persuading  the  public  that  the  pathetic  story  of 
'•  Wild  Maggie  "  was  sheer  fiction,  that  the  girl  introduced  as 
the  original  of  its  heroine,  had  no  such  history,  and  that  Mr. 
Pease  and  his  friends  were  thus  swindling  the  public  of  their 


40 


FACTS  RELATING  TO  THE 


generous  sympathies,  by  a  gross  and  deliberate  imposture. 
The  subjoined  affidavits  (from  the  New  York  Tribune)  will 
extinguish  another  of  the  numerous  frauds  attempted  by  these 
bold  and  industrious  maligners. 

City  and  County  of  New  York,  ss. — Margaret  Ryan,  beiug  duly  sworn, 
deposes  and  says :  I  am  the  daughter  of  James  Ryan ;  I  was  fifteen  years  of 
age  on  the  25th  of  last  November ;  I  live  at  Mr.  "Pease's  House  of  Industry 
at  the  Five  Points,  and  have  sung  at  the  Concerts  of  the  Five  Points'  chil- 
dren, where  I  was  introduced  as  the  "Wild  Maggie"  of  Mr.  Robinson's 
book  "  Hot  Corn."  When  I  was  between  eleven  and  twelve  years  old,  in 
the  summer,  I  lived  with  my  parents  for  a  short  time,  in  Cross-street,  two 
doors  from  Orange,  in  sight  of  the  Five  Points'  Mission  Room.  At  that  time 
I  remember  teasing  Mr.  Pease,  by  talking  saucily  to  him  and  calling  him 
names,  before  the  house ;  there  was  a  young  man  sent  to  catch  me,  to  have 
me  taken  somewhere,  but  I  got  away  from  him,  and  he  fell  over  me  into  a 
cellar.  Finally,  Mr.  Pease  coaxed  me  into  the  house,  to  help  him  lay  out 
work  for  the  women,  and  after  that  was  done,  he  set  me  to  keep  school, 
with  a  lot  of  little  girls  for  scholars.  Then  I  came  every  day  to  Mr.  Pease's 
work-room,  but  did  not  tell  my  father.  After  a  few  weeks  I  went  to  live 
at  Mrs.  Howe's,  corner  of  Broadway  and  Howard-street,  aud  in  the  fall  my 
mother  aud  I  went  to  live  with  a  man  in  Tarry  to  wa  She  came  back  in  a 
little  while  aud  lived  at  Mr.  Pease's.  I  followed  her  as  soon  as  they  would 
let  me,  aud  the  day  after  I  got  back  she  died  ;  I  staid  there  with  Mr.  Pease 
until  I  went  to  live  with  a  Mr.  Eells  in  Hudson-street.  I  lived  there  until 
my  father  married  again,  and  theu  went  home  to  live  with  him  aud  staid 
there  until  I  came  back  this  time  to  the  House  of  Industry,  to  live,  and  go 
to  the  school  at  the  Mechanics'  Institute.  I  went  there  until  one  day  a. 
man  named  McClaiu,  belonging  to  the  Methodist  Five  Points  Mission,  came 
and  talked  to  me  a  long  time  to  make  me  leave  Mr.  Pease,  and  told  me  a 
great  many  bad  things  against  him,  aud  made  me  feel  so  badly  that  I  beg- 
ged Mr.  Pease  not  to  send  me  there  any  more,  and  have  not  been  there 
since.  MARGARET  RYAN. 

Sworn  to  before  me,  this  25th  day  of  February,  185-1. 

Stephen  M.  Purdy,  Commissioner  of  Deeds. 

City  and  County  of  New  York,  ss. — James  Ryan,  being  duly  sworn,  de- 
poses aud  says :  I  have  listened  to  the  above  affidavit  made  by  my  daugh- 
ter Margaret,  and  so  far  as  my  knowledge  goes,  it  is  entirely  true,  and  if  I 
have  ever  been  made  to  say  anything  to  the  contrary,  I  have  been  either 
misunderstood  or  misrepresented.  JAMES  RYAN. 

Sworn  to  before  me,  this  25th  day  of  February,  1854. 

Stephen  M.  Purdy,  Commissioner  of  Deeds. 

New  York,  Friday,  Feb.  3,  1854. 
Solon  Robinson — Sir :  In  the  summer  of  1850, 1  was  acquainted  with  the 
girl  sometimes  called  "  Wild  Maggie,"  whose  name  is  Margaret  Ryan,  and  I 
was  the  individual  placed  by  Mr.  Pease  at  the  door  of  the  work-room  to  catch 
her  that  she  might  be  sent  to  the  House  of  Refuge.  She,  by  her  rudeness 
and  saucy  exclamations,  had  become  so  great  an  annoyance  as  to  render  it 
rfeedful  to  remove  her  to  some  such  place.    This  girl  is  the  same  who  now 


FIVE  POINTS  HOUSE  OF  INDUSTRY. 


41 


sings  with  Mr.  Pease's  school  children  at  their  concerts,  and  known  as  Mar- 
garet Ryan,  and  who  is  now  a  very  good,  modest,  well  behaved,  affection- 
ate girl.  RICHARD  AUSTIN,  No.  6,  Orchard  street. 

Brooklyn,  Friday,  Feb.  3,  1 854. 
To  Solon  Robinson — -Sir :  I  do  solemnly  declare  that  the  person  you 
have  introduced  at  public  meetings  as  "  Wild  Maggie,"  is  the  original  of  the 
record  in  my  journal,  which  you  had  in  your  hands  while  writing  the  story, 
and  that  I  made  the  record  of  hers  and  many  other  cases,  as  they  have 
transpired  at  the  Five  Points,  with  which  I  have  been  intimate,  having 
been  closely  connected  with  the  Sunday  School  there  for  several  years. 
And  I  declare  that  you  have  not  "  outraged  truth,"  nor  imposed  upon  the 
public,  as  charged  by  Orlando  D.  McClain,  in  The  Tribune  of  yesterday. 

THOS.  S.  EELLS,  No.  23  Hicks  street. 


TESTIMONY  OF  THE  DIRECTORS. 

The  following  correspondence  with  some  of  the  prominent 
members  of  the  late  provisional  Board  of  Directors  (now  super- 
seded by  the  Trustees  of  a  regularly  incorporated  association) 
is  conclusive,  on  the  question  of  fidelity  in  the  accounts.  Their 
testimony  is  positive,  unqualified,  made  from  full  personal 
knowledge,  and  covers  the  whole  period  of  Mr.  Pease's 
past  connection  with  the  Five  Points,  except  a  few  weeks  at 
the  outset,  when  the  accounts  were  quite  insignificant  in  amount. 

The  added  testimony  of  the  Niblo  Committee,  (Messrs. 
Wetmore  and  Claflin)  covers  the  whole  period. 

From  Mr.  Pease  to  Messrs.  Donaldson,  Ely  and  Remsen,  severally. 

Five  Points  House  of  Industry,  ) 
New-York,  Monday,  Feb.  6,  1854,  ) 

Dear  Sir  : — Anxious  endeavors  are  made  without  ceasing,  in  certain 
quarters,  to  create  an  impression  that  the  accounts  of  tin's  Institution  have 
been  kept  in  a  loose  and  even  fraudulent  manner.  I  am  informed  that  it 
would  afford  satisfaction  to  some  of  our  friends,  if  gentlemen  known  to  the 
community,  who  have  been  connected  with  the  House  of  Industry  from  its 
origin,  as  Directors  or  otherwise,  would  strengthen  our  hands  by  a  public 
testimony  as  to  the  manner  in  which  the  pecuniary  affairs  of  the  Institution 
have  been  managed  under  their  supervision.       Yours,    L.  M.  PEASE. 

FROM  MR.  DONALDSON. 

New  York,  Friday,  Feb.  10,  1854. 
Rev.  L.  M.  Pease. — Dear  Sir  :  I  have  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your 
note  of  the  6th  instant,  by  which  I  perceive  that  you  wish  to  procure  from 
your  associates,  with  a  view  to  publication,  some  written  testimony  of  the 
manner  in  which  the  pecuniary  affairs  of  the  House  of  Industry  have  been 
conducted. 

I  feel  very  reluctant  to  be  in  any  degree  connected  with  the  controversy 
which  has  arisen  between  some  of  your  former  co-laborers  and  yourself, 


42 


FACTS  RELATING  TO  THE 


aud  very  much  doubt  the  necessity  of  further  protracting  it,  which  thi'3 
measure  may  have  a  tendency  to  do  ;  for  I  cannot  believe  that  the  public  'will 
allow  the  benevolent  objects  in  which  you  are  engaged  to  languish  for  want 
of  support. 

Lest,  however,  my  silence  should  be  misapprehended,  I  deem  it  due  to 
you  to  say  that  during  a  period  of  two  and  a  half  years,  in  which  I  had 
charge  of  the  Parochial  School,  and  of  one  year,  the  direction  "with  others 
of  the  House  of  Industry,  to  both  of  which  I  served  as  Treasurer,  I  never 
entertained  a  doubt  of  the  faithfulness  of  your  administration,  or  of  the 
proper  application  of  the  funds  entrusted  to  you. 

I  am,  dear  Sir,  respectfully  yours,       JAMES  DONALDSON. 

FEOM  MR.  ELY. 

New  York,  Wednesday,  March  1,  1854. 
Rev.  L.  M.  Pease.  Superintendent  of  the  Five  Points  House  of  Industry  : 

Dear  Sir  ; — In  answer  to  your  favor  of  the  21st  of  February,  I  would 
say  it  is  now  about  three  years  since  I  first  became  acquainted  with  you  at 
the  House  of  Industry,  and  since  then  I  have  been  an  occasional  visitor 
there.  About  a  year  since,  I  became  a  director  in  the  Institution,  and 
since  the  first  of  last  April  have  been  the  Treasurer.  In  regard  to  the 
accuracy  with  which  the  accounts  were  kept  before  I  was  Treasurer,  I  can- 
not say.  But  since  then  the  books  have  always  been  kept  open  to  me  and 
all  the  directors,  and  frequent  examinations  solicited  I  have  never  had 
the  least  doubt  but  that  they  have  been  kept  in  a  strict  and  correct  manner ; 
and  I  fully  believe  that  all  the  charges  to  the  contrary  have  arisen  from  a 
spirit  of  envy  and  jealousy. 

With  my  best  wishes  for  your  success  in  your  arduous  labors,  I  remain, 
very  sincerely  yours,  CHARLES  ELY. 

FROM  MR.  REMSEN. 

New  York,  Monday,  Feb.  20,  1854. 
Rev.  L.  M.  Pease. — Dear  Sir  :  In  reply  to  your  note  of  Feb.  6,  I  have 
to  say  that  since  I  became  a  Trustee  of  the  Five  Points  House  of  Industry 
in  May,  1852,  your  accounts  as  superintendent  have  from  time  to  time  been 
examined  by  me,  and  appear  to  be  correct  and  full,  leaving  no  reason  to 
doubt  that  all  your  receipts  have  been  properly  accounted  for. 
I  am,  very  respectfullv,  your  friend  and  servant. 

HENRY  R.  REMSEN. 

FROM  THE  COMMITTEE  AT  MBLO's. 

At  a  large  and  respectable  meeting  of  gentlemen  and  ladies,  at  Niblo's 
Saloon,  January  20,  to  witness  the  performance  of  the  Juvenile  Concert 
given  by  the  Children  of  the  Five  Points  House  of  Industry,  the  undersigned 
were  appointed  a  Committee  to  examine  and  report  upon  the  accounts  of 
Rev.  L.  M.  Pease,  having  special  reference  to  that  portion  of  them  com- 
mencing May  19,  1850,  and  ending  May  2,  1851.  From  a  careful  exami- 
nation of  them,  we  are  able  to  say  that  they  appear  to  have  been  kept 
with  great  care  and  exactness,  specifying  with  minuteness,  both  in  receipts 
aud  disbursements,  the  smallest  as  wrell  as  the  largest  amounts,  and  im- 
pressing our  minds  fully  with  the  honest  and  upright  manner  in  which  his 
arduous  duties  have  been  performed.  "We  beg  any  one  who  may  have  any 
doubt  ou  this  subject,  to  make  a  personal  examination  for  themselves  of 
this  matter.  L.  WETMORE. 

New  Y,rk,  Saturday,  Feb.  25,  1S54.  H.  B.  CLAFL1N. 


FIVE  POINTS  HOUSE  OF  INDUSTRY. 


43 


FROM  MR.  PEASE.  • 

In  the  "whole  catalogue  of  accusations  against  him,  there  is  but  one  which 
the  Superintendent  of  the  Five  Points  House  of  Industry  is  moved  to 
notice  personally.  It  is  perhaps  the  only  one  which  a  candid  mind,  looking 
at  the  position  of  the  Institution,  its  progress,  and  the  character  and 
number  of  its  supporters,  could  allow  to  be  possibly  or  partially  true.  It 
is  the  charge,  loudly  and  incessantly  proclaimed  by  the  persons  controlling 
the  Ladies'  Home  Missionary  Society  of  the  Methodist  Episcopal  Church, 
that  Mr.  Pease  has  assailed,  reproached,  and  slandered  them ;  a  charge  put 
forth  as  their  apology  to  the  public,  for  repaying  him  in  kind.  He  challenges 
the  whole  world  to  produce  a  line  published  by  him,  or  by  his  suggestion, 
or  in  the  name  of  the  House  of  Industry,  containing  an  unkind  or  invidious 
reflection  upon  the  Methodist  Mission,  even  in  self-defence  against  their  bit- 
terest attacks.  Such  an  expression  they  have  never  specified  in  support 
of  this  indefinite  and  most  injurious  charge,  and  such  an  expression  they 
will  search  for  in  vain.  If  it  can  be  produced,  he  will  publicly  confess  to 
the  charge,  and  publicly  exonerate  those  concerned  in  this  warfare  from  a 
portion  at  least,  of  the  responsibility.  He  will  then  acknowledge  that 
they  have  not  acted  wholly  without  provocation,  and  will  hasten  to 
make  any  possible  reparation  for  his  share  of  the  wrong.  Until  then,  he 
washes  his  hands  of  the  scandal  and  shame.  If  there  is  rivalry,  he  is  no 
one's  rival ;  if  there  is  contention,  he  is  no  one's  enemy.  His  time  is 
wholly  occupied  in  the  service  of  the  poor,  as  it  has  been  for  the  last  three 
years  and  three  quarters.  He  has  no  leisure  to  make  war,  nor  -even  to 
repel  war  ;  and  if  he  had  leisure,  yet  a  contention  between  Christians,  and 
especially  between  fellow-laborers  in  the  same  field,  is  too  abhorrent  to  his 
principles,  to  admit  of  his  being  forced  into  it  by  any  conceivable  circum- 
stances. The  public  will  never  know  all  that  he  has  borne  in  silence,  and 
all  the  means  of  a  just  and  severe  vindication  which  he  has  buried  from  the 
light,  to  save  Religion  from  the  shame  of  a  mutual  contention. 

He  has  only  to  add,  that  if  any  contributor  to  this  mission,  at  any  period, 
desires  further  satisfaction  as  to  the  disposal  of  his  donation,  the  accounts 
are  open  to  the  most  thorough  examination,  and  every  possible  facility  and 
assistance  will  be  afforded.  If  after  such  investigation,  such  contributor 
be  not  satisfied  that  his  donation  was  disposed  of  according  to  the  purpose 
for  which  it  was  given,  his  money  will  be  promptly  refunded. 

L.  M.  P. 


44 


FACTS  RELATING  TO   THE  HOUSE   OF  INDUSTRY. 


The  unforeseen  and  inconvenient  size  to  which  this  pamphlet 
has  already  been  extended,  leaves  it  necessary  to  omit  all  refer- 
ence to  mant  other  calumnies,  no  less  false  and  atrocious  than 
the  worst  of  the  multitude  exposed  in  the  foregoing  pages. 
The  copious  specimens  given,  will  probably  suffice  for  a  con- 
siderable time  to  come,  as  well  as  for  the  large  number  now 
extant  and  unnoticed.  The  evidences  of  public  sentiment,  as 
expressed  through  the  press  of  this  city  with  a  solitary  excep- 
tion, must  be  mostly  omitted.  It  is  sufficient  to  remark,  that 
importuned  as  they  have  been,  not  only  by  the  wretched  in- 
strument of  the  attacks  in  the  Express,  but  by  his  "  respectable  " 
backers,  every  other  paper  in  the  city,  so  far  as  we  can  learn, 
has  positively  refused  to  publish  the  charges  or  the  articles 
prepared  in  support  of  them.  And  this  from  no  partiality,  but 
from  the  simple  fact,  that  proof  in  support  of  them,  although 
confidently  promised,  to  induce  publication,  has  been  in  no  case 
forthcoming.  The  editors  of  the  Courier  and  Enquirer  have 
testified,  that  they  have  repeatedly  and  freely  proffered  to  the 
"  respectable  n  parties  who  have  importuned  them  to  publish 
these  attacks,  any  amount  of  time  and  pains  on  their  part, 
necessary  to  a  thorough  investigation,  on  equitable  terms,  of 
the  evidence  in  the  case,  promising  not  only  to  publish  but  to 
maintain  every  charge  which  should  be  proved  ;  but  that  these 
respectable  accusers  have  invariably  shrunk  from  the  propo- 
sition, and  declined  to  assist  in  bringing  their  accusations  to  an 
impartial  scrutiny,  or  to  produce  the  evidence  which  they  pre- 
tended to  possess. 


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